


"A>< 



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DICTIONARY 



CONGREGATIOML USAGES AND PRINCIPLES 

ACCORDING TO ANCIENT AND MODERN AUTHORS: 

TO WHICH ARE ADDED 

BRIEP NOTICES OF SOME OP THE PRINCIPAL WRITERS, ASSEMBLIES, AND 
TREATISES REFERRED TO IN THE COMPILATION. 



BY 

/ 

/ 
PRESTON CUMMINGS, 



OF LEICESTER, MASS., LATE PASTOR OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 
BUCKLAND, MASS. 



•iV 



^ Ef^ixij Etjition; Be&f2tU, CoIIatetr, anti Eitlarscti. 

BOSTON: 

S. K. WHIPPLE AND CO. 

100, Washington Street. 
1853. 




S"' 



\^ 






C^ 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by 

PRESTON CUMMINGS, 

In the Clerk's OflBlce of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



BOSTON: 

PBINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON, 
No. 2i; SCHOOL SIKEET. 



PREFACE. 



It has been said that a good book needs no Preface. 
Had this fewer defects, it would require less apology. 
The origin of this work was a supposed want of copious 
references to many points of frequent practical use in 
councils, church-meetings, and private duties. It was 
undertaken at the request of the Franklin Association, 
but without a due counting of the cost by the compiler. 

Three full years of close daily application has sufficed 
only to discover the magnitude of that subject, which 
lies at the foundation of the whole fabric of our civil as 
well as religious liberties. Even Hume, with all his 
scorn, admits that to the principles and efforts of the 
Puritans the English owe the whole freedom of their 
Constitution. 

The reader will make no new discovery when he finds 
that there are many and great defects in this work. The 
necessary hurry of consulting so many treatises; creates 
a constant liability of giving a wrong shade to the views 



IV PREFACE. 

of tlieir authors. To express tliose views in full is im- 
practicable ; and brevity or irrelevancy very often forbids 
introducing both sides of the argument. All that can 
reasonably be expected, in such a case, is a striking or 
elucidating extract or epitome ; while the copious refer- 
ences direct to chapter and page, where the author cited 
has treated the subject at length. 

The reader should never judge of the general character 
of a book by a mere reference to it in this compilation. 
The work may be valuable, notwithstanding one supposed 
or real inconsistency ; and, on the other hand, of compa- 
ratively little worth, though it contains some important 
admissions or illustrations. 

With sincere aim to be a faithful lexicographer, this 
book must still have very much the shade of the com- 
piler's sentiments. Selecting those points which to him 
seem most important, those which seem paramount to 
people of different views are sometimes necessarily ex- 
cluded. Still, through an endeavor to avoid this evil, 
our differences may sometimes appear greater than they 
are ; because the views of the few who may be but semi- 
Congregationalists thus get a prominence disproportioned 
to those of the multitudes who are agreed. The aim has 
been to state facts as they are, and let the consequences 
care for themselves. This has led to some slight change 
of the author's views on a few points of order ; but he 
may sustain himself from any probable charge of fickle- 
ness, with the reply of an old convert to Nonconformity, 
*' He that can long and closely contemplate a subject 



PREFACE. V 

'• 

with no modification of his own viev/s shall not have me 
for his competitor." 

Some clamor for a work of undoubted authority in our 
churches. We have one, and can have but one, such 
work, viz., the Holy Scriptures. Our ecclesiastical 
government is a pure theocracy, administered by the 
people, who can remove their officers whenever they 
cease to rule — that is, to moderate — according to the 
divine constitution. 

The churches are confederated only by fraternal ties, 
and the great common charter of their existence. Do 
any, then, inquire of what use is it to consult opinions 
and precedents 1 It is answered, To learn truth, not to 
be dictated by fallible men. He who relies implicitly on 
commentaries is a mental slave : he who discards the 
use of them is an ignorant egotist. It is with every un- 
inspired book as Richard Mather said of a decree of a 
council: ''It has just so much force as there is force in 
the reason of it." 

The reader should be apprised, that the references to 
books in the several libraries, contained in the Notices at 
the end of this volume, is incomplete. It Avas also found 
impracticable to give a particular notice of Qvery work 
and author referred to in the Dictionary. 

With all its faults, this book is now sent into the 
world. If men will be excited to examine the originals, 
even to detect its errors, one great end of its publication 
will be gained. These originals contain vast funds of 
sound learning, by men who knew whereof they affirmed, 



VI PREFACE. 

• 

and who many of them suffered, and even died, for the 
maintenance of those blessed truths and principles 
through which we now enjoy rest; liberty, and pros- 
perity. May this work be instrumental in leading 
Christians to the law and the testimony as the ground 
of their faith and practice, and contribute its mite to- 
wards advancing spiritual to the overthrow of formal 
religion ; and the praise be to Almighty God for ever ! 



The first edition of this work, published last April, was 
exhausted early in the winter. In preparing this stereo- 
type edition, nearly all the passages have been collated 
with the originals. A few new topics and many new 
references have been add-ed ; chapters and sections have 
been often substituted for pages ; and the references to 
the works of John Robinson conformed to the recent 
American edition. 

Grateful acknowledgments are due to ministers, who 
have so universally aided the author, both by friendly 
criticisms and recommendations of the work to their 
people. 

Leicester, April, 1853. 



1 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Accusation 13 

Accused 14 

Admonition 14 

Affinity 16 

Agreement 19 

Amusements 20 

Anointing 22 

Apostles, not Bishops . . 23 

Bishops succeed not . . 23 

Appeals from Churches . . 24 

How far allowed ... 25 

Approbation to preach . . 26 

Associations 27 

Authority, Human ... 30 
Baptism, Subjects of . . 31 
Does it admit to Church- 
es? 35 

Does it admit Infants ? . 36 
Is it. Indispensable to 

Communion? . . . 37 
May it be administered 
without a Church ? .38 

Public 39 

Who may administer ? , 40 

Is Popish, valid? ... 41 

Mode of 41 

Benediction 42 

Bishops, Presbyters ... 42 

Diocesan, not jure divino 43 
Diocesan, not Successors 

of the Apostles ... 44 

Had but one Church . . 44 

Chosen by the People . 45 

Brownists 45 



Page 

Calling of Ministers ... 47 

Catholicism 47 

Censures 48 

Ceremonies 49 

Chaplains 51 

Christians ^ 51 

Christmas 51 

Church, what 52 

Of what constituted ? , do 

Mode of constituting . . bQ 
Ministers not necessary 

to constitute . . . . 58 
What number may con- 
stitute? 58 

May one have Branches ? 59 

Majority constitute . . 60 

Officers of 60 

In what sense one . . 61 

Duty to join 62 

Romish 62 

Meetings, how called ? . 63 

Churches, Distinct Bodies . 63 

Instituted Bodies ... 67 

Primitive Congregational 68 
Subject to no External 

Jurisdiction • . . . 70 
Discipline each other, but 

not juridically ... 72 

Objects of 75 

AU Christians may esta- 
blish ...... 75 

Seat of Power . . . . 76 

Begun and continued 

without Officers, &c. . 76 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Churches, continued* 

Censures of 7S 

Members of, hare Equal 

Rights 80 

Equal and Independent , 80 
What Ave may not join . 81 
What we should separate 

from 82 

How proceed ^\i\h Disor- 
derly of another Church 8 2 
Proceedings of, when Pas- 
tors offend . . . . 83 
Assist Feeble Sisters . . 83 
Early LibcraHty of New 

Englana 83 

Collections, Weekly ... 84 

Commentaries 84 

Committees, Chiu'ch ... 84 

Communion, Terms of . . 85 

Occasional, open ... 86 

Introduction to ... 87 

Proportioned to Purity . 88 

Conference Meetings . . 89 

Conferences of Churches . 89 

Confessions of Faith . . 90 

Of Secret Sin .... 91 

For Sin 91 

Confused Records ... 91 
Congregational Churches, 

Early History of ... 91 
Congregationalism, what . 94 
Epitome of Principles of 95 
By Divine Right ... 97 
Adopted by impartial . 98 
Power of, to prevent and 

redress Error ... 99 
Fitted to all Circiunstan- 

ces 100 

Whence its Danger . .101 
Duty to abide by . . .102 
Its Prospects foreseen . 102 
Its Prospects i^alized . 103 

Conscience 103 

Consecrations 105 

Consociations, Origin of .107 

Power of 108 

Reasons urged for . . ,110 
Objections to . . . .111 

Contumacy 113 

Councils, Early . . . .113 



Pago 



Councils, conUmied. ^ 

Proper Objects of . . 

Have they Authority to 
ordain and depose r 

To reverse Decisions ? 

Juridical Power ? 

Of whom composed . 

How chosen . . . 

How convened . . 

Occasions for . . . 

Have Pastors a Nega* 
tive Yote in ? . 

Pastors sit in, by vu-tue 
of their Delegation 

Ex-parte .... 

Are they beneficial ? 

May not enforce Creeds 

When they expire 
Covenant .... 

Creeds 

Dancing .... 

D.D. . .... . 

Deacons, their Office 

Their Qualifications and 
Induction . 

Their <' Good Degree ' 
Deacons' Wives . . . 
Dedications .... 

Delegates 

Delegation of Rights . 

Chiu-ches may send, &c 
Democracy in Churches 
Devotions, Private, in 

Meetings .... 
Discipline, for what 

Proper, a Privilege . 

Mode of Procediu-e in 

All members bound to 

Council in ... 

Of one Church by an- 
other 154 

Congregational, efficient 154 

Affected by Civil Courts 

Dismission, have aU a 

Right to, who ask it ? 

Denied to those under 

discipline .... 

Doctrines of CongTega- 

tionalism . . , . 157 
Ecclesiastical Power . 157 



114 

117 
118 
119 
122 
•125 
125 
125 

126 

126 
127 
128 
128 
128 
128 
131 
140 
140 
141 

143 
143 
144 
144 
146 
146 
147 
147 

148 
148 
149 
150 
153 
153 



155 



155 
157 



CONTENTS. 



IX 



Elders, ruling . . . 
Same as Bishops . . 
When out of date . 
Pliu'ality oi" . . . 
Their Office . . . 
Kule of .... 
Rule as Stewards 
Servants of tlie Church 
Rule as Moderators . . 
How invested with rule 
Is theii* Office jDcrpe- 

tual? 

Chosen by the People . 
Power of, how extensive 
Are they necessary to 

Chui'ch Acts ? . . 

Have they exclusive Go 

vernmcnt? . . . 

Election j>'ivcs but docs not 

ti'ansmit Power . . 
Evangelists, what . . 
Not for Conversion of 
Inadels .... 
Excommunication, what 
By vote of Church . 
Through Officers . 
Is Impro2:)er, valid r . 
Only for great Sins . 
Council, previous to 
Made public ... 
In Absence of Offender 
One Church has not 
Power of, over another 
Excommunicated, how 

treated 

Sentence of, regarded 

till, &c 

May they set up Church- 
es ? 

•Eaith, particular . . . 

Fellowship, all Christians 

have right to . . . 

Of v;u-ious Degrees . . 

Ruk^s of 

Flight in Persecution . . 
Forms, needless .... 
Fundamentals .... 

Funerals 

Gifts, Weekly .... 
Wliich God gave to Men 



rago 
158 
159 
160 
161 
161 
162 
163 
164 
165 
166 

166 
166 
167 

1C7 

168 

169 
170 

170 
171 
175 
175 
176 
176 
177 
177 
178 

178 

178 

181 

181 
182 

182 
182 
182 
183 
183 
183 
185 
186 
186 



Page 
Government, Church, in- 
stituted 186 

Not lawful to alter . . 187 
Not varied by circum- 

tances . . . 187 

In the People .... 188 

Is it mixed ? . . . . 189 
Congregational, how 

distinguished . . . 190 

Civil 190 

Graves, their Position . 194 

Habits, rejected . . . . 195 

Half-way Covenant . . 197 

Heresy 200 

Holy Days 200 

Idleness disciplinable . . 201 

Idolatry 202 

Imposition of Hands un- 
necessary . . . . 202 

By whom 204 

Improvidence .... 205 

Independency, what . . 205 

Of Churches .... 207 

Endangers Monarchy . 208 

Indifferents 211 

Installation, is it indispen- 
sable ? 211' 

Mode of 211- 

Institutions, Gospel . . 212 

Intermissions, Sabbath . 212 
Jesus Clirist, the only 

Lawgiver to liis Chiu'ch 212 
Jurisdiction in the People 213 
Keys, PoAver of . . . . 213 
Granted to Churches . 213 
For Chiu:ches with El- 
ders 214 

Kingship, Clu-ist's . . . 215 
Kneeling at Communion . 216 
Laws, New England, con- 
cerning Religion . . , 217 
Legislation, C/h\irch . . 118 
Letter of Dismission . . 220 
Liberty of Conscience . 220 
License to Preach . . . 220 
liimits of Chiu'ches . . 223 

Liturgy 223 

Lord's Prayer .... 224 
liOrd's Supper, a Church 

Ordinance 224 



CONTENTS. 



Page 
Lord's Supper, continued, 
For any but Church 

Members r- . . . . 225 
Not for known Wicked 226 
Not private .... 227 
Who may administer ? . 227 
Is Baptism indispensa- 
ble to? 228 

Should it be conse- 
crated? 228 

How often adminis- 
tered? 229 

Not neglected for, &c. . 229 
Lot, when lawful . . . 230 
Magistrates, may they 
make Laws establish- 
ing E^eligion ? . . . 231 
Should punish Rioters . 232 
Should they have a 
Voice in Chm'ches ? . 232 
Majorities govern . . • 233 
^^^len should forbear . 234 
Marriage, not Pastor's Of- 
fice WorE: .... 234 
Solemnized by Minis- 
ters 235 

On the Lord's Day . . 236 
Meeting-house . . . . 236 
Members, Church, experi- 
mental Christians . 236 
Satisfy the Church . . 238 
Examination of . . . 240 
Mode of receiving . . 240 
Scandalous, not receiv- 
ed, &c 241 

Removing, may be ex- 
amined . ... 242 
Remove with consent . 242 
Removed mthout dis- 
mission 243 

Pious, of Heretical and 
Scandalous Churches, 

received 244 

Continue till received . 245 
Should transfer Mem- 
bership when they 

remove 245 

Ministers, what .... 245 
Not Successors of 

Priests 245 



Page 

Ministers, continued* 

Nor of Apostles . • . 246 

Of equal Rank ... 246 

CaUing of 247 

Authority of, what . . 249 
People may do the Work 

they neglect . . . 250 
Should submit to Cen- 
sure of Church , . 250 
How dismissed . . , 251 
How deposed . . . . 251 
Character not indehble 253 
May they administer 
Seals where they are 
not Pastors ? . . . 254 
Give themselves to their 

Work 257 

Should not be Magis- 
trates ... . . 257 
Maintenance X)f . . . 258 
Refusing to support . . 260 

Set apart 260 

Ministry learned, &c. . . 261 
Minorities' Rights ... 261 
Missionary Work . . . 262 
Negative Yote .... 262 
New England . . . . 262 
Non- communion . . . 263 
Nonconformists, Indepen- 
dent for Toleration . 263 
Nonconformity, Reasons 

for 263 

Obstacles to ... , 264 

Oath 265 

Offences 266 

Offerings 266 

Office, not in Electors . .266 

Ofiicer, may a Church call 

one of another Church 

to preside ? . . . . 266. 

Officers, Church, what . 266 

Their Quahfications . 267 

Not the Church ... 269 

Chosen by the People . 269 

Chosen for Life . . . 271 

Limited to the Qualified 271 

Elected, truly Officers . 271 

Not to be multiphed . 272 

Of God's appointjnent . 272 

For what deposed ? . . 272 



CONTENTS. 



XI 



Page I 

Olficers, Church, continued. 
Servants of the Church 273 
Abdicate, if neglect duty 27 3 
Ordinances, Perpetuity of 273 
Ordination, what . . . 274 
To a particular Church 275 
Of Missionaries . . . 278 
By Succession unneces- 
sary .279 

Conveys no Power . . 280 
Is a Council necessary to? 280 
None but Election indis- 
pensable 281 

By Ministers .... 282 

By Presbytery ... 283 

By the People ... 285 

Mode of ..... 290 
Method of keeping a day 

of 291 

Mode of objecting to . 291 

Should it be repeated ? . 292 

Parish, not a Church . . 292 

Pastor, his Duties . . . 292 

Has he a Negative Yote ? 294 

Power to elect in Church 295 

Mode of his Election . 296 

How dismissed '? . . . 297 

Not lightly removed . 297 
Is he censurable by his 

Church? .... 299 
Is he a Member of his 

Church? .... 301 

Colleague 302 

Peace 302 

Perfection in Churches . 303 
Persecution, what justifies 

Dispersion? . . . 303 
On account of Congre- 
gationalism . . . 304 
Platform, Cambridge . . 305 

Saybrook 306 

Platforms, of what Autho- 
rity? 306 

Poor of the Church . . 308 
Power, what, can a Church 

give ? 309 

Apostolical . . . 309 

In Ministry or Brethren ? 309 

Cannot be alienated . . 311 

Practice of the Apostles . 312 



Page 

Prayer prescribed . . . 312 
May it be joined in ? .313 
Unprofitable . . . . 314 
Preach, who may? , . . 314 
Preaching, means of Sal- 
vation 316 

May it be heard from 

Christian Err orists ? . 316 
Prelacy prevents not 

Schism 316 

Presbytery, what . . . 316 

Use of 317 

Supposed Power of . . 317 

Church has Power over 318 

Priests, Ministers not . . 318 

Principles, Congregational 318 

Private Judgment . . , 318 

Profession of Eaith . . 319 

Prophesying, ordinary . 319 

Eegulated 321 

Pulpit, controlled ... 323 

Recommendation . . . 323 

Repentance, manifested . 323 

Churches, Judges of . 324 

Manifested, may a 

Church exclude? . . 324 

Resistance 324 

Restoration of Penitent . 329 

Reverend 329 

Sabbath, Discipline on . 330 

Sabbath Schools . . . 330 

Saint 330 

Savoy Confession . . . 330 

Schism 331 

Scriptures, Guide to Order 333 

Seals, what 335 

May a Church authorize 

to administer ? . 335^- 

Members have a Right to 336 

Separation, what . . . 336 

May not be Schism . . 336 

Reasons of 338 

Cause of 339 

"When required . . . 341 

When condemned . . 343 
Not by Corigregational- 

ists 344 

Separatists 346 

Separatists, Semi . . . 346 

Sermons 347 



xu 



CONTENTS. 



Sign of the Cross . . . 348 

Singing 348 

Standing Committees . . 349 

Subscription 349 

Succession, Church . . 350 

Ministerial . . . . 350 

Suspension, Pastoral . . 351 

Church 351 

Suspicion 352 

Synods, not juridical . . 352 
Of whom constituted ? . 356 
Not legislative . . . 356 
For what lawful? . . 356 
May not excommuni- 
cate 358 

Standing, denounced . 358 

Cautions concerning . 359 

Subordination of . . 359 

Swearing 360 

Teacher, his Office ... 360 

Is he distinct from Pastor ? 3 6 

Tithes 362 

Toleration desired . . , 362' 

Why not universal . . 364 
How far should it be 

practised by a State ? 366 



Page 

Tradition, Apostolic . . 373 

Superstitious , . . . 373 

Translation 373 

Treasury 374 

Types 374 

Unanimity 375 

Uniformity . . • . . 375 

Union, Scriptural . . . 376 

Of Chiistians .... 377 

Unity, Church, what . . 377 

When perfect. ... 378 

Usurpation 379 

Yeto 379 

Voters, who are ? . . . 380 

Restriction of . . , . 380 

War 380 

Westminster Assembly . 381 

Widows 382 

Witchcraft 382 

Withdrawing Communion 385 

From Commujiion . . 385 

To other Churches . . 386 

Women's Rights . . . 387 

Worship 388 

Brief Notices . • . • 389 



DICTIONARY. 



ACCUSATION, in discipline^ should not be re- 
ceived^ unless on the testimony of two or three wit- 
nesses*^ — Mere rumor may justify inquiry on the 
part of the church, but is not a sufficient basis on 
which to proceed to formal acts of discipline.^ A 
question has been raised, whether the testimony of 
several witnesses, each to a separate act of the same 
general nature, should be received, and made the 
basis of church action. ^ Some modern writers 
have maintained, that charges may be entertained, 
founded on general rumor ; ^ but, however the 
usages of other denominations may sanction such 
a course, it seems inconsistent with the spirit and 
usages of Congregationalism. Cotton Mather ^ 
asserts, that, should a member fall into scandalous 
transgressions, and it be at once a matter of public 
fame, the pastor inquires into it, and brings it im- 

* By parity of reason, we infer that an accusation ought not 
to be brought, nor be suffered to be brought, unless there are two 
or three witnesses. It seems that this is one of the reasons why 
one or two brethren are to be taken with the accuser, in the se- 
cond step, viz. that they may either be witnesses themselves, or 
see that there are competent witnesses of the facts specified. 
2 



14 ADMONITION. 

mediately under ecclesiastical cognizance. — See 
Accused, Rights of; Discipline ; Elder, Accusa- 
tion against 

1 Goodwin, Ch. Gov. 129 ; Mitchell, Guide, 103. ^ ib. 3 j^. 
note. ^ Congregational Manual, 35, 36. ^ Rat. Dis. 141, 142. 

ACCUSED, Rights of. — There is great lack of 
definiteness on this point in our treatises on church 
government. One reason for this may be the uni- 
versally admitted principle of Congregationalism, — 
Whatever is the dictate of nature is the law of God. 
Their right to a distinct specification of the charges 
to be brought against them, of the witne^es to be 
confronted, to a proper time to prepare for their 
defence, and to a trial and decision without unne- 
cessary delay ; in a word, to all the privileges which 
appertain to persons justly adjudged at other tribu- 
nals, belongs to them. Mitchell ^ says charges should 
be distinctly specified and seasonably communi- 
cated to the accused, commonly in writing. Cro- 
well, in his Church Member's Manual,^ shows that 
he must not be condemned but on the testimony of 
some witness besides the complainant ; and Cam- 
bridge Platform ^ and other treatises show conclu- 
sively that they have a right to the first and second 
steps pointed out in Matt, xviii., though some make 
an exception in case of public offences. — See Dis- 
cipline; Suspension. 

1 Guide, 102. « Pages 234—237. ^ Chap. xiv. 

ADMONITION was formerly considered as an 
indispensable act of the churchy preceding excommuni- 



ADMONITION. 15 

cation^ — The Puritans in Holland "practised no 
church censures but admonition, and excommunica- 
tion for obstinate offenders." ^ The nineteenth arti- 
cle of the Savoy Declaration says : " The censures 
appointed by Christ are admonition and excommu- 
nication." It directs that those who know the facts 
" first admonish the offender in private ; " and, in 
case of non-amendment, "the offence being related 
to the church, and the offender not manifesting his 
repentance, he is to be duly admonished in the 
name of Christ by the whole church, — by the mini- 
stry of the elders of the church." ^ Cotton Mather^ 
describes the manner in which public admonitions 
were performed in •his day in the New England 
churches, by the pastor (in behalf of the church) 
summoning the delinquent, and the church proceed- 
ing to excommunicate him, provided he contemp- 
tuously refused to appear and be admonished. He 
gives the substance of a form of such public admo- 
nition, and says that private Christians then visited 
" the delinquent, and followed up the g-ood effects 
of the admonition upon him." Letchford^ says 
that "the admonished must abstain from commu- 
nion and satisfy the church, else excommunication 
follows." Dr. Dwight^ says: " Should the accused 
person be found guilty of the fault laid to his charge, 
it becomes the duty of the church solemnly to ad- 
monish him of his sin, and the absolute necessity 
of atoning for it, by making proper reparation, with 
the spirit of the gospel." Upham ^ and Cambridge 
Platform.^ assert, that "if the church discern him 
to be willing to hear, yet not fully convinced of his 



16 AFFINITY. 

offence, as in case of heresy, they are to dispense 
to him a public admonition ; which, declaring the 
offender to lie under the public offence of the church, 
doth thereby withhold or suspend him from the holy 
fellowship of the Lord's supper, till his_offence be 
removed by public confession." . (This supposes the 
first and second steps to have been taken.) " If he 
still continue obstinate, they are to ca-st him out by 
excommunication." Punch ard ^ says : " But if un- 
successful (i.e. the measures of the church to reclaim 
the offender), the church, after suitable delay, pro- 
ceed to admonish him, to suspend him from their 
communion, or to excommunicate and cut him off 
from all connection with the cflPhrch." 

* Discipline of Visible Church, by Clyfton or Smith, in Pun- 
chard, Hist. 371 ; Hanbury, i. 32. ^ Apol. Nar. of Indepen. in W. 
Assembly in Neal's Pur. i. 492, and Han. ii. 224. ^ Han. iii. 547. 
4 Rat. Dis. 145—148. ^ In Mass. Hist. Soc. Col., series iii. vol. 
iii. 73. 6 Works, Serm. clxii. ^ j^at. Disc. 139. « Ch. xiv. sect. 2. 
» View, 179. 

AFFINITY, is it a sufficient cause for either multi- 
plying churches in the same place, or transferring 
members to other churches ? — It often occurs that 
diversities of opinion and practice, in matters not 
strictly fundamental, cause a portion of the church 
to feel, that they had better either organize into a 
distinct church, or transfer their relations to some 
other church. It is a mooted question, whether this 
alone is a sufficient ground for such organization 
or such transfer of relation. John Robinson and 
William Brewster give it as their opinion, in coun- 
cil, on the Ainsworth and Johnson controversy, that 



AFFINITY. 17 

it would have been better to have dismissed in 
peace than to have made their brethren their adver- 
saries. . . . The Johnsonians insisted, that, if the 
Ainsworthians were dismissed, they should remove 
out of the place. The latter pleaded a pecuniary 
necessity for remaining.^ Cambridge Platform ^ 
says : " If a member's departure be manifestly un- 
safe and sinful, the church may not consent there- 
unto ; for, in so doing, they should not act in faith. 
... If the case be doubtful, and the person not to be 
persuaded, it seemeth best to leave the matter to 
God, and not forcibly to detain him." The authors 
of the Congregational Manual recommend leaving 
such a case to a council.^ Cleveland's Narrative 
and Conduct of the Fourth Church in Ipswich 
maintains, that, if particular persons cannot agree 
with the major part, they may withdraw, if the 
church refuse to dismiss them.^ So Owen. — See 
Withdrawing to other churches. 

In these cases, personal liberty is usually pleaded, 
on the one hand, and the evil of separation, with 
the wrong which the church would sanction by 
dismissing, on the other. This practical difficulty 
is most satisfactorily obviated in the Answer of the 
New England Elders to the nine positions sent out 
to them by divers reverend and godly ministers in 
England. They show,^ that in such a case the 
churches dissuade from removing, and show the 
sin, and do not consent if it seem wrong to them, 
but " suspend their vote against him, as not will- 
ing, against his will, to detain him, abhorring to 
make our churches places of restraint and impri- 
2* 



18 AFFINITY. 

sonment." This was made a practical rule with 
our forefathers. It was applied in several cases, 
and once to no less a personage than John Daven- 
port (see remarks on his case in art. Pastors not 
lightly removed). An adjourned ex-parte council 
in Concord, in 1743, advise the church, in failure 
of bringing their pastor to repentance, "to with- 
draw from his ministry, and seek gospel ordinances 
elsewhereJ^ T. Goodwin advocates the same prin- 
ciples.^ Isaac Chauncy asserts ^ that " a church 
may deny a dismission to one under church deal- 
ing, or when he desires it at large to the world or 
to a false church. But if he asks a dismission to 
a church of the same order, and gives no satisfac- 
tory reason, and remains peremptory, the church 
ought not to refuse the granting of it. For this is 
to make a church a prison, to lord it over God's 
heritage, to lay a stumbling-block in his way, 
tempting him to schism, destroying his edification ; 
for he cannot edify by means he is forcibly kept 
under. It is contrary to the golden rule, and may 
cause a root of bitterness that may affect many. 
If, upon all due means, the church will grant no 
dismission, the member refused may join another 
church as a non-member." — See Dismission, mat/ a 
church receive members without ? Schism, Separa- 
tion. 

^ Testimony of the Elders of the Church in Leyden, in Han. i. 
255; and Works, iii. 471 — 475. ^ Chap. xiii. sec. 3. ^ Page 33. 
^ Page 38. ^ Page 74. « Ch. Gov. 394, 395. ^ Divine Institution 
of Congregational Churches, 120, 121. 



AGREEMENT. 19 

AGREEMENT of Congregationalists. — We are 
often represented as peculiar for disagreement 
among ourselves, relative to our own distinctive 
principles. We, however, challenge an instance of 
more perfect agreement among the people of any 
other denomination. Cotton Mather^ comments 
on five distinctive points, on which he affirms that 
we are all agreed. In substance they are these : 
The right of Christians to associate for the worship 
of God — Those thus associated are an instituted 
church- — Their chosen pastors have a right to ad- 
minister the sacraments — Churches ought to pay 
great regard to the advice of other churches; and, 
" The Sacred Scriptures are the snjfficient rule for 
belief y worship^ and manners among the people of 
God." Minor differences, particularly about the 
application of the Scripture standard to individual 
cases, of course exist where there is a perfectly ac- 
knowledged right of private judgment; but there 
is equal diversity relative to the application of the 
particular standards of other denominations. Some, 
who take hold of our skirts and would be called by 
our name, would impose on us other standards than 
the Scriptures ; but from the beginning it was not 
so. Even the framers of the Saybrook Platform 
did not claim to be strict Congregationalists.^ Ains- 
worth retorts on those who taunted on him the dis- 
agreement of Congregationalists, " Your persua* 
sions are to make us believe, that, because there are 
sins in Zion, there are none in Babylon." ^ Rev. 
C. XJpham ^ quotes Gov. Endicot's letter to Gov. 
Bradford, showing that he learned from Dr. Fuller 



20 AMUSEMENTS. 

that they of Plymouth held the same doctrine with 
himself, " being far from the common report that 
hath been spread of you." Punchard ^ says : " After 
a somewhat careful examination of the writings of 
all those worthy men, our ecclesiastical ancestors, 
I feel justified in saying, that, although they differ 
among themselves, and from modern Congrega- 
tionalists, on some minor points, yet in the essen- 
tials of our polity there is a most remarkable agree- 
ment among them all with what is now deemed 
sound Congregationalism." — See Congregation- 
alism, epitome of principles. 

^ Hat. Dis. Introduction, pp. 8 — 10, ^ Trumbuirs Hist, of 
Conn. i. 486, 487, 493. ^ in Han. i. 99. "^ Note in his Dedica- 
tion Sermon, 43. * View, 27. 

AMUSEMENTS. — The old Puritan Congrega- 
tionalists have always been distinguished for their 
aversion to vain amusements. They made a stand 
against the Book of Sports of King James I., which, 
to please the rabble and break down the discipline of 
the godly, authorized such sports even on the Lord's 
day.^ Though Prynne and other godly Presbyte- 
rians were valiant for and suffered deeply in the 
same cause, yet it was the Independents who suf- 
fered most deeply as a body. They fully approved 
of Prynne's " His trio- Mastix or Player's Scourge, 
wherein it is evidenced, by divers arguments, that 
popular stage-plays are sinful, heathenish, lewd, and 
ungodly spectacles." ^ -This had much to do with 
exiling them to Holland. Hence they came here, 
not only loathing such amusements in their con- 



AMUSEMENTS. 21 

sciences, but smarting under the effects of them on 
their own religious liberties and privileges. The 
Histrio-Mastix was published in 1,006 pages quarto, 
and shows, even from multitudes of heathen writers, 
that stage-plays were of the most infamous origin, 
and were most pernicious in their effects, condemned 
by the moral, and productive only of sensuality and 
crime. He shows that they were prohibited by a 
multitude of early councils, and that members were 
excluded from the primitive churches for either par- 
ticipating in them or attending them. He also in- 
cidentally shows the same of dancing, in numerous 
instances, as may be seen by reference to the table 
at the end of his volume. He admits ^ that we may 
sometimes need recreations, — as after sickness or 
fatigue or hard study, but denies that we need it in 
plays, or in any unlawful employments. In the 
whole work he calls up the united testimony of 
heaven, earth, and hell, to show the iniquity of thea- 
tres and vain amusements. For this he lost his 
ears. Dr. John Rainolds (or Reynolds), in his 
" Overthrow of Stage Plays," shows their libidi- 
nous and other evil tendencies, abundantly demon- 
strating their injurious effects by the testimony of 
heathen writers, as well as of holy writ. He also 
incidentally shows that promiscuous dancing tends 
to the same evils. 

Dr. Ames ^ says : " If there were any that did not 
dare to be at stage-plays, nor swear lustily on trivial 
occasions or in ordinary discourse, nor drink wine 
until he stared in pledging the cup, nor frequent 
masking, dice, or revelling, he should presently have 



22 ANOINTING. 

no other name than Puritan." Prince informs us,* 
that the same Dr. Ames was obliged to flee to the 
continent for preaching against playing cards and 
dice. Philip Stubbs, in his " Anatomic of Abuses," 
strikingly illustrates the evils of promiscuous dan- 
cing, stage-plays, cards, dice, &c. Rev. T. Allen, 
afterwards of Charlestown, Mass., refused to read 
the Book of Sports, when the clergy were required 
to do so, and lost his parish (St. Edmunds, in Cam- 
bridge, Eng.) by order of Bishop Wren.^ President 
Chauncy displeased Bishop ,Laud, by preaching 
against the Book of Sports, &c.'^ — See Dancing. 

1 Han. i. 358, 359. ^ Han. i. 512. ^ Pages 945—948. ^ Pi-ef. * 
to BradshaVs English Puritanism. ^ Chronology, 29. ^ Eliot, 
Biog. Diet. 20. ^ lb. 98. 

ANOINTING tvith ai7. — Thos. Goodwin (styled 
the Father of Congregationalism, though it is be- 
lieved to have had even a far more illustrious ori- 
gin), devotes the eleventh chapter of the seventh 
book of his treatise on Church Government^ to this 
subject. He maintains that the healing promised 
in James, v. 14, 15, was not mnaculous, but only a 
blessing accompanying the prayers of the elders, 
in the use of an appointed ordinance, which he 
argues to be still in force. Isaac Chauncy ^ main- 
tains that the directions for anointing were, by a 
synecdoche, equivalent to requiring the use of out- 
ward means, to be accompanied with prayer. 
Goodwin, in his Catechism,^ however, admits that 
the ordinance has ceased, and that the promise 
never Vv^as of universal application, though it put 



APOSTLES. 23 

great honor on the elders to be thus the medium 
of special blessings to the sick. From this time, 
anointing, as an ordinance, seems to have become 
perfectly obsolete in the Congregational churches. 

1 Pages 387—390. ^ Ans. to Goodwin, 3—30. ^ Page 22. 



APOSTLES not bishops. — John Milton^ shows 
conclusively, that the apostles could not possibly 
have been bishops by office, i.e. moderators or go- 
vernors of the churches, and so that modern dio- 
cesan bishops are no successors of the apostles. 
Dr. Bacon, in his Church Manual, most happily 
illustrates this point, showing that though they had 
certain duties to perform, yet they were not officers 
in any churches. They had "Bishoprics" accord- 
ing to the Scriptures ; but these had little or no 
analogy to the supposed duties and prerogatives of 
modern prelates. — See Bishops. 

1 Eikonoklastes, 135. ^ Pages 30—36. 

APOSTLES, English bishops cannot trace their 
succession from. — Hanbury ^ shows that this is 
admitted by Archbishop Usher, Geraldus, and Stil- 
lingfleet; and by them their succession is made to 
depend only on common fame, owing to the loss 
of records in the English church. It would be an 
endless task to attempt even a synopsis of the con- 
troversies on this point. I therefore only give the 
above admissions of episcopal champions. — See 
Bishops. 

iVol. i. 166. 



24 APPEALS. 

APPEALS from the decision of churches are un- 
necessary. — Thomas Goodwin ' shows that they 
are not reqaired by the law of naturae ; for they did 
not exist either in the patriarchal or the Jewish 
code. Neither do they exist in some of the reformed 
churches of Europe, nor even in matters of life and 
death in civil courts. They cannot consistently go 
before sentence; for this would deprive the church 
of the power of sentence, and the delinquent will 
lack the means of his conversion, until the matter 
has run through all the courts of appeals. Nor can 
they follow the sentence, because it is bound in 
heaven, unless the delinquent repents,'^ and also 
because the church would thus give up the autho- 
rity with which Christ has entrusted them. 

J. Davenport shows ^ that they are endless in 
their practical application; for, if the principle is 
once admitted, there is no consistent stopping-place 
short of a general oecumenical council, which may 
not assemble for an age. Richard Mather and W. 
Tompson ^ press the same argument concerning 
appeals to discipline churches. John Wise,* doubt- 
less referring to Matt, xviii., says : There is appa- 
rently some great fallacy in the objection (i.e. to 
the ultimate power resting in the church), or cer- 
tainly our blessed Saviour did not state his cases 
right." Hanbury ^ speaks of T. Edwards, in his 
Reasons against the Independents, as resting the 
necessity of a court of appeal on the precedent of 
the church at Antioch, "but forgetting that they 
were not members of that church that caused the 
dissension." Katharine Ghidley, in her answer to 



APPEALS. 25 

Edwards/ says: "This chapter (Acts xv.), above 
all the chapters that I can find, proves Indepen- 
dency. The church of Antioch judged it an un- 
equal thing for them to judge the .members of the 
church of Jerusalem." 

Dr. Emmons ^ says : " Christ her^ gives no direc- 
tion to the censured person to appeal to any higher 
tribunal, . . . nor to the church to call a council for 
advice. The censured person has no right of appeal, 
. . . because there is no higher tribunal on earth to 
which he can appeal. . . . There must be a final de- 
cision, and the church must make it." His reason- 
ing looks like not allowing the aggrieved a right to 
seek admission to other churches ; but this was not 
probably his meaning. 

^ Ch.. Gov. 197 — 200. ^ See Excommunication, lohat ? ^ Power 
of Cong. Churches, in Han. ii. 65. ^ In ib. 174. ^ Vindic. 54. 
« Vol. ii. 103. 7 In ib. 109. » Platform estab. by the Lord Jesus 
Christ, in "Works, v. 454. 

APPEALS, how far allowed in strict congreg-a- 
tional discipline, — John Wise, in his Vindication,^ 
shows that the first trial is at the bar of the delhi- 
quent's own conscience : " If he hear thee, thou hast 
gained a brother;" thence there is an appeal to one 
or two more ; and, if he neglect to hear them, there 
is an appeal to the church, which is the highest 
tribunal known in the word of God. Thomas 
Goodwin^ acknowledges the right of appeal to 
other churches, in case of mal-administration ; but 
their decision is not to be received with implicit 
faith. Upham ^ recognizes the right of appeal, in 
the last resort, to the churches at large, through the 



26 APPROBATION. 

medium of an ex-parte council. A thousand and 
one disquisitions, maintaining juridical appeals, 
may be found, fathered by so called Congregational 
writers : but alpiost or quite every one of them 
bears date as late as the commencement of the 
eighteenth century. — For the whole subject of ap- 
peals, see further, Councils, Synods. 

* Pages 52—54. ^ Ch. Gov. 202. ^ Ratio Disciplinae, sec. 175. 

APPROBATION to preaclu—'When candidates 
for the pastoral office go out to preach the gospel, 
it is desirable that they have letters of commenda- 
tion from some who are known to the churches. 
Formerly, the churches thus recommended those 
who w^ent out from them.^ About the year 1705, 
" Proposals " were made by certain ministers to 
have the churches give their power to do this into 
the hands of ministerial associations.^ This custom 
has now, by innovation, generally prevailed among 
the New England Congregationalists ; some asso- 
ciations giving a mere recommendation, and others 
a formal license, to preach the gospel. It is, how- 
ever, an encroachment on ancient usages and prin- 
ciples, which maintain that it was not a matter of 
necessity ; and that to hold it necessary was " to 
deny Christians their liberty, and assume the in- 
fallible chair." ^ Stoddard (who differed from most 
New England ministers) argues in his Instituted 
Churches,* that it belongs to synods to appoint 
persons to examine candidates for the ministry, yet 
not to abridge the churches of their liberty. In 
the petition of the church and town of Woburn to 



ASSOCIATIONS. 27 

the General Court, Aug. 30, 1653,' they say : " If 
a church has liberty of election and ordination, then 
it has the power of approbation also." The result 
was a repeal of an order which had passed the 
General Court, that ministers should be approbated 
by a council, or by the county court.^ Punchard 
says "^ that the first suggestion on this subject, so 
far as he has discovered, came from the united 
brethren, Congregational and Presbyterian, in Eng- 
land, in 1692 ; but the above petition shows an 
earlier date by a Massachusetts law, which was 
subsequently repealed. John Owen,^ in his Duty 
of Pastor and People, chap, vii., asserts that private 
Christians have a right to make known whatever 
is revealed (i. e. made clear) to them, and, if called 
in Providence (as, for instance, being shipwrecked 
on an island), to preach the gospel. — See Pun- 
chard's View, 199, 200 ; and Upham's Ratio Dis- 
ciplinse, 55, 117 — 123. See also Associations, 
License (in particular). Prophesying, Preach loho 
may ? 

^ Wise's Quarrel of the Churches Espoused, 124 — 128. ^ lb. 
^ Oliver Cromwell, in Neal's Hist. Puritans, ii. 116. ^ Page 34. 
* In Mass. Hist. Soc. Col., series iii. vol. i. 42. ^ lb. 39. '^ View, 
199. » Works, xix. 43—47. 

ASSOCIATIONS, their rise and province. — 
About the year 1675, perhaps earlier,* after great 

* President Stiles, says about 1670. Note to Convention Ser- 
mon, page 68. A manuscript-book has been recently deposited 
in the library of the Mass. Hist. Soc. by Rev. Dr. William Jcnks 
from the Hon. Judge White, of Salem, containing the constitu- 
tion and records of an association formed in Bodmin in Cornwall, 



28 ASSOCIATIONS. 

desolations by the Indian wars, the neighboring 
ministers in several counties in New England met 
together to pray ; and subsequently they began to 
discuss subjects of common interest at tlieir meet- 
ings. At length, some " presbyterially inclined " 
ministers began to dignify their meetings with the 
came of " Classes." Thus matters progressed until, 
]n 1705, an effort was made by one of these asso- 
ciations to combine all the ministers in the country 
into similar bodies, for the purpose of establishing 
a consociation with powers similar to those after- 
wards claimed by the consociations of Connecticut. 
They issued their proposals, bearing date Nov. 5, 

Sept. 9, 1655. Their record of proceedings continues till May 4, 
1659, which was on the eve of the restoration. Charles Morton, 
afterwards of Charlestown, Mass., was one of the members. They 
voted to ordain three ministers in December and January, 1656-7, 
** being satisfied with their qualifications." But whether they 
were ordained as pastors or evangelists, the record does not in- 
form us. 

The same volume also contains the constitution and records 
of Cambridge Association, which was formed at the house of the 
same Charles Morton, in Charlestown, Mass., Oct. 13, 1690, On 
the records are found votes, passed Peb. 23, 1690-1, recommend- 
ing the ordination of evangelists ; and that the candidates for 
such ordination be ** recommended by the churches of which they 
are members to the adjoining eldership for their ordination." MS. 
p. 40. It appears that they received a communication from " the 
ministers of the county of Essex, Nov. 2, 1691." MS. p. 41. 
March 6, 1692, *' Yoted that letters be written to the other asso- 
ciations," &c. The records in this volume continue till 1701, and 
contain some scattered notes of a later date. This is doubtless 
the association from which issued the ''Proposals" referred to 
above. In these records are the originals of most of the votes of 
the ministers at Cambridge, reported by Mather in his Magnalia, 
book V. vol. ii. pp. 212—237. 

# 



ASSOCIATIONS. 29 

1705/ These proposals were successfally resisted 
by " divers godly ministers " at the time,^ though 
they afterwards prevailed, by the interference of 
state authority, in Connecticut. In Massachusetts, 
however, associations from this time became gene- 
ral,* but have neither held nor claimed any eccle- 
siastical authority, such as was designed in the 
" Proposals," with the single exception of examin- 
ing and licensing candidates. Two attempts have 
since been made to give ecclesiastical authority to 
ministerial associations ; but they have been signal 
failures. John Cotton, in his Book of the Keys, 
alludes to the desirableness of such associations; 
and Goodwin and Nye, in their dedicatory epistle 
to that book,' speak of his asserting the necessity 
of so guarding them that they shall not " intrench 
or impair the privilege of entire jurisdiction com- 
mitted to each congregation." Mitchell * says : " It 
is the province of associations to license candidates 
for the ministry," which is true in practice ; " but 
from the beginning it was not so." I am informed 
that the American Baptist and English Indepen- 
dent churches all stand fast in their liberty on this 
point. 

Eliot, in his Ecclesiastical History of Massachu- 
setts,^ informs us that Roger Williams and others 
opposed ministers' meetings, lest it should grow to 

* Punchard, View, 196, quotes Cotton Mather, Rat. Dis. 179 — 
181, affirming that the proposals for associations had not been 
universally complied "withal in 1726. Upham, Rat. Dis. 153, 
shows from the Magnalia, that they, however, began to be formed 
as^arly as 1690. 
3* 



30 AUTHORITY, 

presbytery ; but this fear was without foundation, 
as they were all clear on this one point, that no 
church or person can have power over another 
church.^ The Answer to the Hampshire Narrative 
asserts that ^ associations are not so much as named 
in the Platform : it is free and voluntary how far 
people will refer to them for advice. It expresses 
hope ^ that " a new contention will not arise about 
the rights of associations and the liberty of the 
churches in calling and ordaining pastors.'^ The 
association had interposed in a case in Springfield, 
and the civil authority had a warrant for arresting 
part of the council, assembled against the wishes 
of the association. And they actually did imprison 
the candidate for an alleged breach of the peace 
in the matter.^ The council ^^ blame the association 
for setting up authority over the church in Spring- 
field. Their answer was imputed to the pen of the 
Rev. William Cooper, of Brattle-street Church, Bos- 
ton.^^ — See Approbation, License. 

* See them in Wise's Quarrel of the Churches Espoused, 77 — 
80. 2 See Consociation. ^ Page 7. * Page 232. ^ In Mass. Hist. 
See. Col. X. 16. * See the same corroborated in Eliot's Biog. Diet. 
434, art. Skelton. 7 page 5. « Page 56, ^ Pages 79—82. 
10 Page 77. " Eliot's Biog. Diet. 129.* 

AUTHORITY, human^ renounced. — Robinson, in 
his answer to Bernard,^ is very positive on this point. 

* The author has been requested to give an article on the 
tenure of the connection of members with their associations. 
Finding nothing on the subject, he can report nothing, save the 
obvious principle, that, in such a case, the tenure is limited to a 
strict construction of the given associational constitution. • 



BAPTISM. 31 

" Not to prove and try what is offered to the con- 
trary of any man's judgment, in the balance of the 
sanctuary, is to honor men above God, and advance 
a throne above the throne of Christ." J. Cook* 
thinks that " nothing more hinders reformation than 
taking things upon trust, not supporting authority 
by solid reasoning; as if an argument from autho- 
rity were any proof to a wise man." In Foxcroft's 
Century Sermon,^ it is asserted that " there was, in 
the infancy of the Reformation, a set of men who 
appealed to the law and to the testimony; re- 
nounced all implicit credit to human teachers, and 
all human imposition in divine worship. One hun- 
dred of these pleaded their separation before the 
Lord Mayor and Bishop Sands, and fourteen or 
fifteen of them were imprisoned in 1557." — See 
Watts's Hymns, b. ii. hymn 149, stanza 5. Scrip- 
tures a siffficient guide to order. 

1 In Han. i. 208 ; and Works, ii. 52. ^ "What the Inde, ondents 
would Have, in Han. iii. 259. ' Page 8. ' « 

BAPTISM, proper subjects of, — Visible believers 
and their households have always been held by 
Congregationalists proper, to be proper subjects of 
this ordinance. The early and most of the late 
Congregationalists hold these the only proper sub- 
jects of it. John Robinson says : ^ "It doth no 
more belong to the seed of godless parents than 
doth the comfort flowing from the righteousness of 
faith unto the parents themselves." His defence 
of infant-baptism is condensed from his answer to 
Helwisse in Punchard's History of Congregational- 



32 BAPTISM. 

ism.* Aiusworth mainraiaed the same: his views 
may be seen at lenorth in Hanburv.' The elders of 
the New England charches, in their Answer to the 
Nine Positions,* qnote John Alaseo : " None ought 
to be driven back who is a member of the church, 
nor admitted to baptism who is not a member. . . . 
We do baptize their infants alone who have joined 
themselves to our ehurches." John Cotton argues : * 
" K one of the parents cannot claim a right to the 
communion, they cannot claim baptism for their 
children.'' He maintains ^ that it can only be on 
account of the next parent or pro-parent, otherwise 
it may be extended even to Turks and infidels. 
Cotton after^'ards changed his mind on some 
points relative to. the subjects of baptism; and 
what is claimed to be his retraction is bound with 
a copy of his treatise on the Holiness of Church 
Members, in the Antiquarian Library, Worcester; 
but, instead of advocating the half-way covenant, 
.he seems only to retract a former opinion, that be- 
ing in covenant was unnecessary to communio» 
in either seal. This point seems to have been one 
of those which led to the separation of the New 
England Puritans from the English church; and 
•^ Mr. Davenport left Amsterdam because he could 
not conscientiously baptize all sorts of infants." ' 
He had a controversy with the Dutch divines, and 
also in New England, whether the children of com- 
municants only should be admitted to the ordi- 
nance.' Isaac Chauncy ^ says : " No non-member 
can plead right to any seal, the seals being given to 
the church.-^ The Apology of the Overseers, Elders. 



i 



BAPTISM. 33 

and Deacons of the English Church at Amsterdam 
maintains ^^ that baptism is only for the faithful 
and their seed, or those under their government. 
The Principles of the Robinson Church assert ^^ 
that baptism is only for visible believers and their 
unadult children. Increase Mather maintains ^^ 
that adopted children of believers may be baptized, 
and shows that Ames and Cotton taught the same. 
Dwight^^ argues, at length, for confining it to the 
households of believers, from the constitution of 
the Abrahamic church ; from Matt. xix. 13, 14, 
Acts XX. 38, 39, and 1 Cor. vii. 14 ; from the Scrip- 
tures not presenting two sets of qualification ; from 
the tenor of the Christian covenant precluding it ; 
and the presumption that it would introduce dis- 
order into the Christian church to admit it. The 
adverse principles seem to have begun to prevail 
in New England about 1660, though a foundation 
for them had previously been laid. In the Answer 
of the Elders and Messengers to the General Court 
in Boston in 1662, they argue largely in favor of 
receiving the children of those who were baptized 
in infancy and own the covenant.^ ^ Dr. Increase 
Mather at first opposed the doctrine of this synod, 
but soon changed his mind, and published "the 
First Principles of New England concerning Bap- 
tism," in which he declares that the half-way cove- 
nant was the doctrine of the first fathers of New 
England,^^ and claims^® John Cotton as on that 
side of the question. But the argument was either 
overstrained through the testimony of posthumous 
letters, or else Cotton's opponents justly charged 



34 BAPTISM. 

him with contradicting himself.^*^ He did, however, 
maintain that the children of those not in covenant 
migUt be baptized, provided the parents would 
resign their education to responsible church mem- 
bers, as grandparents, &c. This proviso, however, 
destroys by implication the right of those not con- 
forming to it. His doctrines on this point amount 
to little else than that of the admitted right of bap- 
tism to the adopted children of believing house- 
holders. 

Among the noted defenders of confining bap- 
tism to the households of believers was President 
Chauncy, who wrote his famous Antisynodalia for 
this purpose, in which he takes this ground i^'^ 
" Visible believers, and converts in full communion, 
in an instituted church (being unbaptized), together 
with their next seed in minority^ are the proper sub- 
jects of baptism."* These are an account only of 
disputes about the extent of the ordinance, while 
the writings of those who agree on the validity of 
infant-baptism are too numerous to admit even a 
synopsis in this work. Dwight^^ and Emmons ^^ 
have given us their views at large on the general 
subject. Robinson says : ^^ " We require of them 
(Anabaptists) proof how the grace of God is so 
straitened by 'Christ's coming in the flesh as to 
cast out of the church the greatest part of the 
church before, — the infants of believers." — See 
Half-way Covenant. 



* Enough to vindicate him from the charge of antipedobaptist 
sentiments, though he held to immersion. 



BAPTISM. 35 

* Apology, in Han. i. 375 ; and "Works, iii. 19. ^ Pages 342, 343. 
8 Vol. i. 152, 408—416. * Page 71. * Way, 81. « lb. 87, 88. 
7 Trumbnirs Hist, of Conn. i. 492, and Han. i. 526—546 " « Eliot, 
Biog. Diet. 149. ^ Divine Institution of Cong. Churches, Preface 
ix. ^^ Page 71. ^* In Prince's Chronology, 91. ^^ First Princi- 
ples of New England concerning Baptism. ^^ Works, Serm. clix. 
14 Prop. V. 97—108. ^^ Page 1. ^^ p^ges 2, 5. ^^ gge Han. ii. 
560— 583c ^^« Page 16.- ^^ Vol. v. Serm. clvii.— clix. ^o YqI. y. 
482—500. ^^ Ans. to Helwisse, in Han. i. 270. 

Another question closely connected with the fore- 
going is — Does 

BAPTISM admit the baptized to the churches ? — 
The advocates for national establishments, and also 
the abettors of the half-way covenant, of course, 
maintain the affirmative ; while the separating 
Congregational Puritans advocate the negative, 
and the Baptists many of them advocate the affir- 
mative, seemingly on the principle that extremes 
meet. Some of the early Congregational lights 
wrote w^th great clearness to prove their position. 
John Robinson says,^ " The church was not given 
to baptism, but baptism to the church;" and ar- 
gues, that, if admission to the church be by baptism, 
then casting out of the church must be unbaptizing. 
The same doctrine is taught in Hooker's Survey,^ 
Richard Mather's Church Government and Church 
Covenant,^ J. Owen's Answer to the Review of the 
Nature of Schism.'* John Robinson ^ inquires to 
what church Helwisse, Smith, and others were ad- 
mitted. They rebaptized themselves. The same 
question will apply to Roger Williams and the 
American Baptists. Prof. Knowles^ attempts to 



L 



36 BAPTISM. 

avoid the dilemma, by assuming that a voluntary 
agreement makes a church ; and then they may 
ordain a minister, and he may baptize the members. 
This is true Congregational doctrine ; but how does 
it comport with the Baptist doctrine, that baptism 
is indispensable to church membership ? 

* Ans. to Hehvisse, in Han. i. 266, 267 ; and Works, iii. 167. 
2 Part i. 55. ^ Pages 12—21. ^ In Han. iii. 460. ^ Ans. to Hel- 
wisse, in Han. i. 267 ; and Works, iii. 168. ^ Life of Roger Wil- 
liams, 168. 

BAPTISM, does it make infants juembers ? — This 
question is so blended with the foregoing, that the 
same persons, if Congregationalists, must, to be 
consistent, maintain either the affirmative or the 
negative of both. Richard Mather ^ approvingly 
quotes Zepperus and Parker, showing that they 
were not received as members till they made a 
profession of their own faith. Higginson and 
Brewster agreed to the same doctrine.^ Cambridge 
Platform takes the same ground.^ J. Owei^^ shows 
how, though no members, they are still, by cove- 
nant with the parents, under the watch and care of 
the church ; a very important distinction and doc- 
trine. Cotton Mather ^ quotes Flavei as maintain- 
ing, that the fierce disputes about infant-baptism 
are punishments for neglecting our duty to the 
baptized. 

Lord King, on the other hand, says:^ "In gene- 
ral, all those that were baptized were looked upon 
as members of the charch, and had a right to all 
the privileges thereof." He then excepts those who 
.were guilty of gross, scandalous sins. The Answer 



BAPTISM. 37 

of the Boston Synod of 1662 '^ maintains their 
membership, so as to claim membership for their 
households, though not to full communion without 
public personal profession. The Gospel Order Re- 
vived, in answer to Dr. I. Mather, says : ^ " For he 
(Dr. M.) has taught us that adult baptized persons 
are of the church." In Dr. Mather's own copy of 
that work (in the Antiquarian Library, Worcester) is 
written in the margin against this sentence, "/a&e." 
It is in the doctors own handwriting. Shepard, in 
his Church Membership of Children, adduces all th*e 
usual arguments in favor of their membership. Dr. 
Dwight ^ maintains that they are members of the 
church general, in the same sense that the eunuch 
was a member. He gives his opinion,^^ that such 
persons cannot be excommunicated ; that, during 
their minority, their discipline is committed wholly 
to their parents and guardians ; that the church 
thus possesses an indirect control over them ; and 
that they are bound to reprove and admonish bap- 
tized persons, whom they see in the commission of 
sin. 

• 1 Apology, 34, 35. ^ Han. ii. 166. ^ Chap. xii. sect. 7. ^ Ori- 
ginal of Churches, chap. iv. in "Works, xx. 188. ^ Magnalia, ii. 
459. 6 Enquiry, part i. 100. ^ Pages 72—108. « Page 19. 
^ Serm. clvii. *° lb. Serm. clxii. 

BAPTISM, is it indispensable to communion? — 
Robert Hall, a Baptist,^ has cogently argued that 
it is not per se indispensable, because the first 
communicants had not received Christian baptism ; 
and the evidence preponderates, that others, as 
ApoUos, had communed previously to receiving it. 
4 



38 BAPTISM. 

From various other considerations, he also demon- 
strates the same point. The Encyclopedia of Re- 
ligious Knowledge^ gives the arguments of Mr. 
J. D. Fuller, on the other side, which may be thus 
epitomized : The difference in the baptisms prac- 
tised before and after Christ's death were circum- 
stantial, and not essential. The commission in 
Matt, xxviii. makes baptism as essential to commu- 
nion as faith to baptism. The apostles uniformly 
baptized converts previously to their admission. 
Conformity to the commission thus explained is 
not scMsni^ but promotive of Christian union. The 
mutual forbearance required does not involve the 
surrender of Christian institutions. It is not incon- 
sistency, but charity, to unite with Pedobaptists in 
acts not implying the abandonment of the com- 
mission. It is better to suffer imputations of un- 
charitableness than to sin by abandoning Christ's 
commission. — See Communion, Terms of ; Bap- 
tism, does it admit the baptized to churches ? * 

* Works, i. 292—351 ; ii. 202—230. ^ Page 396. 

BAPTISM, may it he administered without a' 
church ? — The affirmative of this question is main- 
tained by Goodwin^ on the ground of the case 
of the Ethiopian eunuch; of Johnthe Baptist, re- 
quiring only faith and repentance ; of Peter, at the 
Pentecost; and of the jailer and his household. 
Owen maintains* that professing believers and their 
households have a right to baptism, whether they 

♦ A large portion of the Congregationalists now hold baptism 
to be indispensable to communion. 



BAPTISM. 39 

are joined to any particular church or not. John 
Cotton, on the contrary, did not baptize his child 
at sea, because he believed that it should be done 
in a church, and that a minister could not give the 
seal but in his own congregation.^ This was also 
the long-received doctrine in the New England 
churches, and precluded baptisms out of the church. 
— See Ministers, may they administer seals, SfC, ? 

1 Ch. Gov. 233, 377, 378. ^ Review of Nature of Schism, in 
Han. iii. 460. ^ Winthrop's Journal, i. 110; New Englander for 
August, 1850, p. 410. 

BAPTISM should be public — Br. Sparke and 
Mr. Travers, in their conference with Archbishop 
Whitgift,^ object to three things in the practice of 
baptism in the English Episcopal church : Its be- 
ing done in private ; being done by laymen and 
women ; and being held necessary to salvation. 
Cotton Mather^ offers reasons to show why the 
New England churches di^ not practise private 
baptism ; one of which is, " that, as the church owe 
special duties to the baptized, they think it reasona- 
ble that they should see the baptism." Increase 
Mather, in his Order of the Gospel Professed and 
Practised in the New England Churches, shows ^ 
that they disallowed of private baptisms. Upham ^ 
says that they are commonly, but not necessarily, 
performed before the whole congregation ; some- 
times in those meetings which are open only to 
church members; and sometimes, when there is 
urgent and satisfactory reason, in private houses. 

» In Neal, Hist. Pur. i. 166. ^ Rat. Di?. 72—74. ' Page 62. 
4 Rat. Dis. 218. 



40 BAPTISM. 

BAPTISM, wlio can administer valid ? — Lord 
King says,^ that in the primitive churches it was 
usually performed by "bishops and pastors;" and 
that it was permitted to "presbyters and deacons, 
and, in cases of necessity, even to laymen, to bap- 
tize." Thomas Goodwin ^ maintains, that a minis- 
ter, w^ho is not a pastor, may administer it. This 
was long controverted by many of the old Congre- 
gationalists. (See Ministers, may they administer 
seals in a church of ivhich they are not pastors ?) 
This is, I believe, now universally admitted, and 
has been since the synod of 1648, which virtually 
admitted it in the fifteenth chapter of the Platform. 
There is a manuscript letter of Cotton Mather in 
the Antiquarian Library in Worcester, which cites 
a case where baptism administered by an Anabap- 
tist deacon was held to be valid. By this it is not 
meant that it is in order for others than ministers 
to baptize. The New England elders say,^ that the 
administration of the seals is given to ministers, as 
the stew^ards of the mysteries of God. John Ro- 
binson says,^ that baptism, " by an unlawful minis- 
ter, of an unfit subject, and in an unsanctified 
communion and unlawful manner, is true baptism, 
unlawfully and falsely administered." This he illus- 
trates by the case of a profane oath, which binds 
him who takes it. The Genevan disputants say : ^ 
" The force of the sacraments doth in nowise de- 
pend on the person of the minister who delivereth 
them, but upon the ordinance of God, only so that 
the same be observed by a public person, rightly 
called, or at least exercising a public function by a 



BAPTISM. 41 

common error. . . . The Donatists, therefore, and 
such like, did err, who taught that the sacraments, 
administered by evil ministers, were of no force." 
" Neither^ did those spots (papal additions), though 
filthy and loathsome, annihilate baptism." This 
is argued at length by Anthony Thysius, " a Low- 
country man." 

1 Enquiry, part ii. 44. ^ Ch. Gov. 377, 378. ^ Answer to Nine 
Positions, 67. * In Han. i. 269 ; and Works, iii. 186. ^ Page 165. 
6 Page 174. 

Here arises another question, viz. 

BAPTISM, is popish, valid ? — This seems to 
have been admitted by all the early Congregation- 
alists.* Francis Johnson maintains the affirmative 
on this question,^ because, where God requireth his 
people to come out of Babylon, " he doth not re- 
quire them to leave whatsoever is there had, but 
requireth them to have no more communion with 
her sins." Henry Johnson argues ^ that the church 
of Rome must be a true church to render her 
baptism valid. This is the doctrine of rigid Sepa- 
ratists. 

^ Han. i. 310, 311. ^ Treatise against Two Errors of the Ana- 
baptists, in Han. i. 169. ^ ib. 320—324. 

BAPTISM, mode of? — Sprinkling has always 
been considered by Congregationalists as a valid 
mode of baptism. So says Cotton Mather in his 
Ratio Disciplinse/ He gives a description of the 

ancient manner of baptizing,' which is the same as 

4=^ 



42 BISHOPS. 

that now m general use. Dwight ^ maintains that 
it may be administered indifferently, either by 
sprinkling, affusion, or immersion. Emmons ^ main- 
tains the propriety of sprinkling or pouring, but 
admits the validity of immersion. In Ware's His- 
tory of the Old North and New Brick Churches, 
Boston,* there is a record of the baptism of a child 
by immersion, in 1781, at the particular request 
of its mother. 

1 Page 79. ^ ib. 75. 3 YqI. y. 330—34:2. ^ Vol. v. 473—482. 
^ Page 59. "Much succinct information on the several points con- 
nected with the subject of Baptism may be found in Upham's 
Eatio Disciplinse, 212—224. 



BENEDICTION. — Coleman, in his Primitive 
Church,^ shows at length that there is a great deal 
of superstitious reverence for a sacerdotal benedic- 
tion, growing out of the error of a vicarious priest- 
hood in the Christian church. He maintains that 
it properly means no more than a benevolent wish 
and an appropriate prayer for a blessing on the 
people. He asserts ^ that there are no traces of its 
having been used in the primitive churches during 
the first and second centuries. 

1 Chap. xiv. pp. 412—426. « lb. 416. 

BISHOPS, same as presbyters, — Wickliffe is bold 
to assert that they were the same in the apostolic 
age.^ ^rius had maintained the same doctrine 
several centuries before him.^ The same was main- 
tained even by the reforming Puritan Episcopa- 
lians ; ^ and even the then Archbishop of Canterbury 



BISHOPS. 43 

asserted ^ that bishops and priests were but one 
ofSce in the beginning of Christ's religion. See the 
same doctrine advocated by Lord Brooke,^ Thomas 
Hooker,^ and Cotton Mather.'^ See also Neander, 
Church History, i. 106.- Gibbon, in his Decline 
and Fall of the Roman Empire,^ calls them " two 
appellations, which in their first origin seem to 
have distinguished the same office and the same 
order of persons." Dwight discusses the subject at 
length.^ See Answer of the Divines to his Ma- 
jesty's Reasons why he cannot abolish Episcopal 
Government, 3 — 8 ; and their Answer to his Ma- 
jesty's Second Paper,^l — 38. 

iPunchard, Hist. 162; and Neal, Pur, i. 29, note.* ^ p^n- 
chard, Hist. 75, 78. ^ ib. 195, 196. * Jb. 198. & In Han. ii. 118. 
« Survey, Part ii. 22, 33. ^ Rat. Dis. 200—207. « In Han. i. 7. 
® Serm. cl. cli. 

BISHOPS, diocesan^ not jure divino. — This was 
long ago maintained by even Bellarmine.^ Lord 
Brooke^ maintained the same in the discourse 
cited in the last article. And John Owen says : ^ 
" Sir Edward Coke will satisfy any in the rise and 
fall of Episcopal jurisdiction." The defence of M. 
Henry's Inquiry into the Nature of Schism ^ says : 
" The word of God nowhere asserts that bishops 
are a superior order to presbyters." And,^ " Though 
some reformed churches admit a kind of Episco- 
pacy, yet they never pretend a jus divinum for it." 
Mr. Baynes^ shows that Christ and his apostles 
did not ordain ordinary ministers with power over 
others. Macaulay says : ^ " The founders of the 
Anglican church had retained Episcopacy as an 



44 BISHOPS. 

ancient, a decent, and a convenient ecclesiastical 
polity, but had not declared that form of church go- 
vernment to be of divine institution. In the reign 
of Elizabeth, Jewell, Cooper, and Whitgift . . . never 
denied that a Christian community without a bishop 
might be a pure church." 

^ See Goodwin's Ch. Gov. 67. ^ Han. ii. 118. ^ In ib. iii. 442. 
4 Page 17. '" Page 32. « Diocesan's Trial, 24—77. "^ Hist. Eng. 
i. 58, 59. 

BISHOTS diocesan, not successors of the apostles. 
— - This follows, of course, from the arguments of 
the last article, " unless " they succeed them, as 
says John Robinson,^ '* as darkness succeeds light.'' 
Burton pertinently answers Prynne, even to Pres- 
byterian claims to legislative power : ^ " If they who 
pretend to succeed the apostles will challenge the 
same liberty which the apostles had, they must 
first of all show their immediate commission from 
Christ." — See Succession, ministerial, interrupted 
or uninterrupted ? 

i In Punchard, Hist. 333 ; and Works, ii. 436, 437. ^ in Han. 
ii. 400. 

BISHOPS originally had the care of but one 
church — So Mosheim in Hanbury.^ Wise^ quotes 
Tertullian, Irenseus, Eusebius, Justin Martyr, and 
Cyprian, to the same point. Punchard, in his 
View,^ also quotes Mosheim : " A bishop had charge 
of a single church, which might ordinarily be con- 
tained in a private house. •Nor was he its head, 

BUT WAS IN REALITY ITS MINISTER AND SERVANT." 



I 



BROWNISTS. 45 

He had no power to ordain or determine any thing, 
except with the concurrence of the presbyters and 
brotherhood. 

1 Vol. i. 10. 2 Vindication, 10—12. » Page 144. 

BISHOPS should be chosen by the people. — "Wise 
asserts^ that they always were thus chosen in the 
primitive -churches. — See Pastor chosen by the peo- 
ple, Congregationalists hold pastor and bishop to 
be exactly synonymous. 

^ Vindication, 13. 

BROWNISTS. — I introduce this article to in- 
quire how far they differed from Congregation- 
alists. Punchard says : ^ "It is evident, that in its 
essential features it (Brownism) corresponded with 
Congregationalism as established in New Eng- 
land." Yet the early Congregationalists took 
great pains not to be identified with the followers 
of Robert Brown. In an important point they 
obviously differed. J^he Brownists did not ac- 
knowledge the churches of England to be true 
churches,^ whereas this has never been denied by 
true Congregationalists. It has perhaps been 
generally supposed that the Brownists held to the 
utter independency of the churches ; but Punchard 
shows ^ that they held that one church might give 
advice, counsel, and even reproof, to another; and, 
if need be, even withdraw fellowship from it, which 
IS all that is ever claimed either by English Inde- 
pendents or strict American Congregationalists. 
It is highly probable that they often supposed 



46 BROWNISTS. 

themselves to differ where they were really agreed, 
as was the case with the churches in Salem and 
Plymouth, who afterwards found that they were 
one in sentiment. — See Agrbeubnt of Congrega- 
tionalists. 

They, however, always kept aloof from the ex- 
clusive spirit of the Brownists ; and, as these were 
proscribed, no one wished to identify himself with 
them further than his own conscience required. 
Baillie (who wanted a Scots army, 15,000 strong, 
to promote Presbyterianism) speaks of Robinson^ 
as "the most learned, polished, and modest spirit 
which that sect ever enjoyed." He says : " It would 
have been truly a marvel if such a man had gone 
to the end a rigid Separatist. But, alas! his new 
doctrine, though it was destructive to his old sect, 
became the occasion of a new one, not very good." 
Robinson's sentiments he styles Semi-separating 
Independency. He says : " No Independent will 
take it well at any man's hand to be called a 
Brownist." Dr. I. Mather ^ makes the distinction 
between Brownists and Congregationalists to con- 
sist in the question, whether a valid church act can 
be consummated without the concurrence of both 
the elders and the brethren ; but whoever is much 
conversant with these subjects can hardly fail to 
refer this assertion to special pleading. Paget ^ 
says, Brownists are of three kinds : " Some sepa- 
rate from the church of England for corruptions, 
and yet confess it and the church of Rome to be a 
true church, as the followers of Mr. Johnson. Some 
renounce the church of England, and yet allow of 



CATHOLICISM. 47 

private communion with the godly therein, as Mr. 
Robinson. Some renounce ^ all communion with 
that church, as Mr. Ainsworth." — See Power, 
churchy is it installed in ministry or brethren ? 

1 Hist. 248. 2 Neal, Puritans, i. 149. ^ Hist. 248. * Han. iii. 
132. ^ Disq. Ecc. Councils, Preface, iv. ^ Arrow against Sepa- 
ration, in Han. i. 325. 

CALLING of a minister, in what does it consist ? 

— Congregationalists have ever held that it con- 
sists, not in ordination, by the imposition of hands, 
but in the election of the people ; that the ordina- 
tion is nothing but the recognizing of the election, 
and not the substance of it.* Hence their doctrine 
is, that it is the lifting up of the hands of the bre- 
thren,^ and not the laying on of the hands of the 
elders, which constitutes the essence of the pastoral 
relation. Isaac Chauncy,^ after speaking of an 
immediate call, as of the apostles, says a mediate 
call is that which Christ makes by the instrumen- 
tality of a church. The consummation of the call 
is made by the free acceptance of the person called. 

— See Pastor, Ordination, Imposition of Hands, 
Elders, Minister, calling, what ? 

^ R. Mather's Ans. to Rutherford, in Han. ii. 187 ; Goodwin, 
Ch. Gov. 195. ^ Greek of Acts xiv. 23, in opposition to King 
James's and the Bishops' garbled translation of the passage. ^ Di- 
vine Institution of Congregational Churches, 64, Q5» 

CATHOLICISM of Congregational churches. — 
A very prevalent error is the belief that the early 
Congregationalists were very exclusive in their 



48 CENSURES. 

religion. One of the dividing points between them 
and the Brownists was the question of fellow^ship- 
ping the English and Reformed churches (see 
Brownists). This was also one of their great 
points of controversy with Roger Williams.V Cot- 
ton Mather^ quotes the words of "a worthy man 
who walked in our way : ' I will be one with every 
one that is one with Christ.' " ^ He says the churches 
of New England endeavor to make their ecclesiasti- 
cal state a visible sermon to the world upon the re- 
quisites of men's being received into heaven at the 
last. Governor Winslow says ^ that Mr. Parker and 
Mr. Noyes of Newbury, and Mr. Hubbard of Hing- 
ham, were for Presbytery, yet were never molested ; 
Presbyterians might have a complete Presbytery 
near Ipswich and Newbury, and it was answered 
affirmatively by the court that they might have one. 
One minister denieth the baptism of infants, and 
divers of his congregation are fallen in with him, 
and the government only moved the elders to try 
to convince and reclaim him. — See Confessions 
OF Faith, Communion, Creeds, Separation, Schism, 
Toleration. 

1 Winthrop, i. 53. ^ Rat. Dis. 37. ^ lb. 142. * Nar. in Young's 
Chron. of the Pilgrims, 402—405. 

CENSURES, power of, in the church. — The Sa- 
voy Declaration^ says: "Every church hath power 
in itself to exercise and execute all those censures 
appointed by him (Christ) in the way and order 
prescribed in the gospel." — See Admonition, Sus- 
pension, Excommunication, Appeals, Churches 



CEREMONIES. 49 

subject to no jurisdiction out of themselves^ Conso- 
ciations, Jurisdiction, Keys ; Power, church, 
^ Inst, of Cong. Churches, art. xviii. in Han. iii, 547. 

CEREMONIES. — Bradshaw ' argues strongly 
against conformity to these, for instance the sign 
of the cross in baptism, because conforming to 
them is not keeping ourselves from idols. Robert 
Parker wrote a volume " Against Symbolizing with 
Antichrist in Ceremonies, especially the Cross in 
Baptism." He powerfully argues that a host of 
evils grow out of it. Dr. Osgood ^ says " We had 
no consecrated churches, no burial or matrimonial 
service ; . . . because we had nothing but the Bible, 
they (Episcopalians) were confident that we had 
no religion." Dr. Ames, in his " Fresh Suit against 
Human Ceremonies,*' ^ asserts that " the Walden- 
ses made much the same objections to human 
ceremonies which we do." He quotes one of their 
prominent men : " All customs in the church, which 
in the gospel they don't read, they do contemn ; 
they affirm that those things which are appointed 
by the bishops and prelates are not to be observed, 
because they are the tradition of men, and not of 
God." ^ '• Even the inquisitor Sylvester says, that 
to interpret human precepts, in the court of con- 
science, belongs to every one as touching his own 
practice." John Howe says:* " Stillingfleet com- 
plains because we dare not consent with them to 
the additions which belong not to religion. While 
they (Dissenters) cannot judge the ceremonies law- 
ful, how can they apprehend themselves bound to 
6 



60 CEREMONIES. 

be without the means of salvation which Christ's 
charter entitles them to ? " Pierce, in his Vindica- 
tion of Dissenters,^ quotes Wickliffe : " All human 
traditions, that are not taught in the gospel, are 
superfluous and wicked." He shows "^ that the 
Bishop of St. David's inquired in the Hampton 
Court Conference how he should answer certain 
objections against the ceremonies, as the sign of 
the cross ; and was forbidden to reply to the answer 
given him. He shows ^ that the church has no 
right to impose kneeling at the sacrament, . . . and 
then refuse it to those that will not conform. Ames, 
in his Marrow of Sacred Divinity, says : ^ " No wor- 
ship instituted is lawful, unless it hath God for the 
Author and Ordainer of it. . . . Of like kind with 
images are all those ceremonies which are ordained 
of men for mystical or religious signification." One 
of the Genevan Disputants says : ^° " Whosoever do 
break out into that boldness, that either they do 
coin new sacraments, or add unto those that were 
appointed of the Lord, or detract any tittle from 
them, they are guilty of treason against the Majesty 
of the Highest." Another of them says : ^^ " It is 
not lawful for an angel in heaven to ordain any 
new sacramental rites." Hence he condemns the 
" curious additions " to the sacrament of baptism. 
— See Habits, Kneeling, Authority human, In- 

DIFFERENTS, IdOLATRY, LiBERTY OF CONSCIENCE, 

Non-conformists, Prayer prescribed, Schism, Se- 
paration, Uniformity, 

'Treatise on Worship and Ordinances, 98—116. * Dudlean 
Lect. 30. 5 Page 8. * lb. 79. MVorks, 170, 171. « Pages 4— 6. 



CHRISTMAS. 51 

'lb. 158— 163. 8 lb. 490. ^ Pages 271, 274. ^^ Page 162. "Page 
173. 



CHAPLAINS. — "Private chaplains, to minister 
to families or neighborhoods in time of divine ser- 
vice of the churches where they dwell, is considered 
disorderly." ^ " Though the communicants in the 
churches of New England are not constantly tied 
to their own pastors, yet, if they should not ordina- 
rily hear them w^hen they are able to do it, the 
omission would be thought a disorder." ^ John 
Milton says : ' " Scripture knows no chaplains ; and, 
the church not owning them, they are left to the 
fate of the sons of Sceva the Jew. . . . Public prayer 
did not pertain only to the office of a priest : David, 
Solomon, and Jehoshaphat might pray in public, 
even in the temple, while the priest stood and heard. 
. . . What ailed the king that he could not chew 
his own matins without the priest's ore tenus ? " 

1 C. Mather, Rat. Dis. 62. ^ ib. 3 Eikonoklastes, 163, 167. 

CHRISTIANS, the weakest^ to be received to the 
churches, — " It is not eminency of holiness that 
we look to in the entertainment of members, but 
uprightness of the heart." ^ — See Members, church. 

* Hooker's Survey, part i. 23. 

CHRISTMAS. — This, with other holy days, is 
rejected by Congregationalists, on the ground that 
they are enjoined on no higher authority than that 
of men. Indeed, they do not see cause to believe 
that it is appointed on the true anniversary of the 



52 CHURCH. 

birthday of our Saviour.^ — See Holy Days, Cere- 
monies, Idolatry, Authority hinnan. 

^ Ainsworth's Arrow Against Idolatry, in Han. i. 237. 

CHURCH, what constitutes -one ? — It was the 
united opinion of the early Congregationalists, that 
any number of persons, united together by a cove- 
nant either expressed or implied, for the worship of 
God, constitute a church. John Robinson says:^ 
" And for the gathering of a church I do tell you, 
that in what place soever, whether by preaching the 
gospel by a true minister, by a false minister, by no 
minister, or by reading and conference, or by any 
other means of publishing it, two or three faithful 
people do arise, separating themselves from the 
world into the fellowship of the gospel, they are a 
church truly gathered, though never so weak." In 
his Apology ^ he defines a church to be a company 
of faithful, holy people, with their seed, called by 
the word of God into a public covenant with Christ, 
and among themselves, for mutual fellowship, in 
the use of all the means of God's glory and their 
salvation. Burton ^ says : " Ekklesia, the church, 
is properly a congregation of believers called out 
from the rest of the world ; for so saith the Lord, 
2 Cor. vi. 17." The Saint's Apology says,^ this con- 
sent or agreement ought to be explicit, for the well- 
being, but not necessarily for the being, of a true 
church ; for it may be implied by frequent acts of 
communion, &c. Dr. Ames says : ^ " The first 
thing that doth make actually a church is calling; 
whence also it hath taken both its name and defi- 



CHURCH. 53 

nition." Jacob's Church Confession says : ^ " They 
(the English congregations) are a true political 
church, as they are a company of visible Christians, 
united, by their own consent, to serve God ; . . . 
theref^e we commune with them upon occasion." 
Euring says r"^ " Search the Scriptures, and you shall 
find that every true visible church of Christ must 
consist of a company of people separated from the 
froward generation of the world by the gospel, and 
joined or built together into a holy communion 
and fellowship among themselves." The voluntary 
covenant, either expressed or implied, our fathers 
considered a sine qua non to a regular church 
organization. They therefore rejected the ideas of 
a national church, and of the full communion of 
those not in voluntary personal covenant.^ 

In Burton's Modest Answer to Prynne's Full 
Reply in 1645, it is shown ^ that a mere ioiplicit 
covenant is sufficient to the being, though not to 
the well-being, of a church. Thomas Goodwin 
argues,*^ that a church must be composed of those 
who not only make confession, as Peter did, but 
are united together for divine worship, ordinances, 
and church government; and^^ that it is "a holy 
nation, ... a household of faith, ... a holy tem- 
ple," and thus is an organized body ; and ^^ that it 
is an instituted body, assembling in one place, built 
by a special covenant. In his Catechism ^^ he shows 
that the ancient converts joined themselves to the 
church, and that a covenant is implied in their 
authority to judge and discipline their members, 
as they have no power to "judge them that are 
5=^ 



54 CHURCH. 

without." Bradshaw says : ^^ " They hold and 
maintain, that every congregation or assembly of 
men, ordinarily joined together in the true worship 
of God, is a true visible church of Christ." Penry 
says:^^ "This church (Christ's) I believe k) be a 
company of those whom the word calleth saints, 
which do not only profess in word that they know 
God, but are subject to his laws and ordinances 
indeed." The Confession of the Low Country 
Exiles, art. xxxiii., says :^^ " Christians are willingly 
to join together in Christian communion and or- 
derly covenant; and, by free confession of the 
faith and obedience of Christ, to unite themselves 
into peculiar and visible congregations." J. Daven- 
port ^"^ says : " The church of Christ arises from the 
coadunition or knitting together of many saints 
into one by a holy covenant, whereby they, as lively 
stones^ are built into a spiritual house, 1 Pet. ii. 
4, 5. Though church covenant be common to all 
churches in its general nature, yet there is a special 
combination which gives a peculiar being to one 
Congregational church and its members, distinct 
from ail others." — See also, for corroboration of the 
same sentiments, Burrough's Irenicum, in Han. iii. 
115 ; Bartlett's Model, in ib. 239 ; Savoy Declara- 
tion, in ib. 545, 546 ; Camb. Platform, chap. 2, sect. 
6, and chap. 4; Wise's Vindication, chap. 2; Lord 
King's Enquiry, part i. 3, 7 ; Hooker's Survey, part 
i. 46 ; Hutchinson's Hist. Mass. 370, 371 ; Hall's 
Puritans, 294; S. Mather's Apology, 2; Increase 
Mather's Dis. Ecc. Councils, preface ; Owen's Com- 
plete Works, xix. 213, 505, and xx. 370, 371; 



CHURCH. 55 

Watts's Works, iii. 198, 250 ; Cotton Mather's Rat. 
Dis. 10, 11 ; Eaton's and Taylor's Defence, 44 ; 
Letchford's Plain Dealing, epistle to the reader ; 
Dwight, Serm. cxlix. ; Emmons, v. 444 — 446 ; and 
Principles of Church Order by the Congregational 
Union of England and Wales, art. i. in Hanbury, 
iii. 599. — See Covenant. 

* Ans. to Bernard, in Pun chard's Hist. 331 ; and Han. i. 214 ; 
and Works, ii. 232. ^ jb. 389, note ; and Works, iii. 427. ^ Pro- 
testation Protested, in Han. ii. 73. ^ lb. 231. ^ Marrow of Sa- 
cred Divinity, 135. ^ Art. viii. in Hanbnry, i. 296. ''' Answer to Ten 
Counter Demands, ib. 367. ^ Kichard Mather's Apology, 5 — 25, 
and Church Gov. and Church Cov. 9, 11; Ans. of the N. E. 
Elders, 75 ; Cotton's Way of the Churches, 2. ^ Page 25. ^^ Ch. 
Gov. chap. iii. 49—54. " Ib. 242. '^ j^. 249, 251, 256. ^^ Pages 
7, 8. ** English Puritanism, in Neal's Puritans, i. 248. ^^ Decla- 
ration of Allegiance to her Majesty, in Han. i. 81. ^^ Ib. 95. 
^^ Power of Congregational Churches, in ib. ii. 62. 



CHURCH, of what constituted? — Lord King de- 
fines it:^ All professors of religion ; — a particular 
church ; — a meeting-house ; — once only in the Fa- 
thers, a collection of churches ; — and sometimes 
the invisible church. Isaac Chauncy ^ shows that 
the word church is derived from Kuriou oikos^ — 
House of God; that there is no just ground for ap- 
plying such a trope (church) to a house for a pub- 
lic assembly; that men's laws cannot establish 
churches, but they must be built after the pattern 
which God shows ; that a true church may be 
discovered by its being on the foundation, Jesus 
Christ; by the visible matter, living stones; by the 
form, fashion, and frame, according to the gospel. 



56 CHURCH. 

It is no church if either of these be wholly wanting ; 
faulty where these are defective. Lobb ^ quotes 
Humphrey, a great anti-separatist: '' The Congre- 
gationalists stand here. The church of Christ is a 
number of truly faithful, regenerate persons." Dr. 
Emmons ^ says :• " There is an invisible and a visi- 
ble church. The invisible church comprehends all 
real saints. By a visible church we are to under- 
stand a society of visible saints." Greenwood,^ being 
asked, " Is not the w^hole land, as now ordered, a 
iTue church ? " answered emphatically, " No." For 
this and similar sentiments, he became a martyr. 
Dr. Hopkins says,^ that the word church " signifies 
an assembly of men, called and collected together 
for some special purpose. The church of Christ on 
earth consists of those who are united together as 
professed friends to Christ and believers in him, are 
under explicit engagements to serve him," &c. . . . 
" Whenever a number of persons voluntarily unite 
together, under profession of holiness in Christ, to 
attend to his institutions and ordinances, they are a 
church." The second chapter of Cambridge Plat- 
form establishes the same position. 

* Part i. 2—5. ^ Divine Inst. Cong. Churches, 1—8. ^ True 
Dissenter, 98. * YqI. y. 444. ^ in Han. i. 62. « System, ii. 224, 
225. 

CHURCH, mode of constituting. — A summary 
of the usual ceremonies in constituting a church is 
given in Cotton's Way of the Churches,^ and Cot. 
Mather's Ratio Disciplinse,^ which does not essen- 
tially differ from those now generally practised, 



CHURCH. 67 

save that the brethren of the churches invited, nomi- 
nated as many delegates as they chose. In Cot- 
ton's time, however, the candidates appointed one 
of their own number to read the covenant, and 
one of the council to give them the right hand of 
fellowship. Whoever reads the more ancient trea- 
tises on Congregationalism, and proceeds to the 
more modern ones, will perceive a gradual increase 
to the prerogatives claimed by councils. " Facilis 
descensus^ Letchford^ says: "At gathering of 
churches, one of the messengers examines the can- 
didates; and, on acknowledging their covenant, he 
pronounces them a true church, and gives them the 
right hand of fellowship. So did Mr. Welde at 
the founding of Weymouth Church." A church was 
gathered at Lynn ^ for Long Island. He quotes^ 
from the Answer of the Elders in Boston, to a 
question which he put to them : Though it be not 
usual, " yet it is lawful to gather a church without 
other churches and ministers to advise." Dr. Har- 
ris^ states that the first church in Dorchester was 
gathered in Dorchester, England. Mr. White 
preached in the forenoon, and in the afternoon 
Messrs. Wareham and Maverick were chosen and 
separated to the care of the intended congregation, 
and they preached in the afternoon. The formation 
of Richard Mather's church in Dorchester was for 
a time delayed, because the members failed to 
satisfy the council of their experimental piety.^ 

^ Pages 8 — 10. 2 Pages 3—12. ^ Plain Dealing, in Mass. Hist. 
Col. ser. iii. vol. iii. 65. * lb. 98. ^ lb. 107. « lb. ser. i. vol. ix. 
148. 7 Hubbard's Hist. Mass. 273. 



58 CHUECIL 

CHTECH, mhnsten m4 necessary to constitute. — 
Barrowe* shows that otherwise the existence of 
ehnrches wonld depend on the will of ministers. 
Bat the ^fairhfol are commanded to gather to- 
gether in Christ's name : • - • for the kingdom of 
God consisteth not in w^ord, but in power." Cam- 
bridge Platform declares* that officers are not ne- 
cessaiy to the simple being of ehnrches. GJoodwin ' 
says : " It is Christ's prerogative alone to bnild and 
erect a chnrch, vriihoat the intervention of ministe- 
rial ec-clesiastical power to derive that power to 
them. . . . Chnrehes to be erected may and onght 
to have the direction and consent of neighbor 
chnrehes. because a new sister is to be added to 
and associated with them; but they receive no 
power from them to become a church-''' ^ Xor * are 
ministers or their power necessary to the first gath- 
ering of a church. They may have a hand in it 
by directing and exhorting to it, . . . but the power 
is in ourselves immediately. . - . ^hey (ministers) 
are to be set in churches, so there were churches 
gathered ere elders were made in them." — See 
Letchford's quotation from the Answer of Boston 
Elders to his question, mentioned in previous arti- 
cle, viz. Church, mode of constituting; Chttrches 
begun without officers^ Sfc 

^ SomeGf IheSeascms of our Sepnnti<Hi,iiiHjti&.L-54. * Chap. 
▼L sect. 3. ' Chiiirli Gor. 208. «Ib. 2a7. 

CHUECH, \that number of members may consti- 
tute ? — Cotton,' Bichard Mather and William 
Tompson,' and Cotton Mather,' all maintain that 



CHURCH. 59 

seven males aie the least number th'at can be pro- 
perly constituted into a church, because they held 
that number necessary to a case of discipline, as in 
Matt, xviii. This assumes that neither the accuser 
nor the witness to the second step may vote, and 
that the rest of the church must outnumber the 
accuser, the witness, and the accused. Each of 
these points seems, however, to need proof before 
it is implicitly adopted. John Robinson (see on 
Church, luhat constitutes ?) limits it only to two or 
three ; and many of the old Congregational writers ^ 
supposed this to be the meaning of Matt, xviii. 20. 
Cambridge Platform says ^ that it " ought not to 
be of greater number than may ordinarily meet 
together conveniently in one place, nor fewer than 
can conveniently carry on church work." Prince ^ 
enumerates among the principles of Robinson's 
church, " A particular church should consist of no 
more than can conveniently watch over each other, 
and meet in one congregation." Eaton and Tay- 
lor "^ say, " Seven, eight, or nine may make a church." 
See Upham, Rat. Dis. 55, 56 ; Punchard, View, 47. 
— See Churches, distinct bodies, 

^ Way of the Churches, 53. ^ Ans. to Herle, in Han. ii. 172. 
3 Rat. Dis. 2. ^ As Goodwin, Ch. Gov. 257. ^ Chap. iii. sect. 4. 
® Chronology, 91. "^ Defence, 9. 

CHURCH, may one,^ have branches ? — Hooker ^ 
informs us that, in his time, a church sometimes 
sent out a colony, with part of its officers, before 
they w^ere separated into a distinct church. " Mr. 
Wheelwright^ was minister to a branch of Boston 



60 CHURCH. 

Church, in a place since called Braintree, where the 
town had some lands." This practice was, how- 
ever, generally discouraged, as it was the very thing 
known to have helped to diocesan and metropoli- 
tan domination over the primitive churches. — See 
Punchard's Hist. 20. Also Church, what number 
of members may constitute ? 

Survey, part i. 128. ^ Eliot, Biog. Diet. 483. 

CHURCH, the majority constitute, — John Robin- 
son and his church in Ley den advocate this prin- 
ciple (in a letter to a church in London),* even 
where that majority are in error, and even hetero- 
dox. Dr. Hopkins' says, in matters wherein the 
church as a body are to decide and act, they must 
be determined by the voice of the major part. He 
shows that the minority must submit and conform, 
unless against their conscientious views of right; 
in which case no one has any right to control them. 
— See Majorities, Minorities. 

* In Han. i. 449, 450 ; and Works, iii. 385. ^ System, ii. 226. 

CHURCH, officers of. — Congregationalists in all 
ages have agreed that pastors and deacons are church 
officers; that pastors and bishops are the same 
in Scripture language ; and that the special duty of 
deacons is to take care of the poor, and of the tem- 
poral interests of the church. Formerly they gene- 
rally maintained, that teachers and ruling elders, 
and, to some extent, that deaconesses or widows, 
were of divine appointment, rulers and helps in the 
churches. This opinion, however, was never uni- 



CHURCH. 61 

versal among them. John Owen ^ held to essen- 
tially the same organization which prevails in New 
England at the present day, and confounds pastors, 
teachers, and elders in one and the same office. As 
early as 1679, this had become the general practice 
^in Massachusetts. The synod of that year, how> 
ever, lament ^ " that there is, in most of the churches, 
but one teaching officer." (See Pastor, Teacher, 
Minister, Evangelist, Elders, Deacons, Wi- 
dows.) Many churches have of late added stand- 
ing committees, which are recommended in the 
Congregational Manual,^ with special duty to in- 
stitute discipline for public offences, if the same be 
not seasonably done by other members." This 
method of delegating duties is, however, question- 
able. Mitchell,^ though he approves of such com- 
mittees, with " a general oversight of the ordinary 
interests of the church," cautions lest they be in- 
vested with powers almost identical with a Presby- 
terian session. To commit the watch and care of 
a church to a permanent committee, so as to dis- 
charge the church as a body from their duties, is 
not Congregationalism.^ — See Power of Church 
cannot be given away nor delegated; Officers not 
to be multiplied; Officers, what ? 

^ Catechism, quest, xxiii. ; Complete Works, xix. 519. ^ White's 
Lamentations, in Wise's Vindication, 167. ^ Page 28. '* Guide, 
142. 6 lb. 143. 

CHURCH, in what sense one. — John Robinson* 
says that it is " one in nature, not one in number, 
as one ocean. Neither was the church at Rome, 
6 



62 CHURCH. 

in the apostle's days, more oue with the chnrch at 
Corinth than was the baptism of Peter one with 
PanPs b-^ "' Ti. or than Peter and Paul were one.** 
Jehu M says: " The Christian church is uni- 

versal, not ried to nation, diocese, or parish, but 
consisting of many particular churches, complete in^ 
themselves." See Cambridee Platform, chap. ii. 
sec:, o. 4; Qo^'orv'^ \Y:xy of the Churches. 10: 
Hooker's S i. 6'2. SI. '220. 25:3—274 

iii. 19. — See lhli::hes. distinct bodies. 

^ ApD.cgv, in H^::. :. 17^. - To SalmaslTis, in Han. iii. 373. 

C HUE C H . b elievers to join. — Eaton and 

Taylor - say : ; as a believer doth not join 

himself to so: ^ rlar church, he is without, 
in the : - sense. 1 Cor. v. 12." See the duty 

advocated in Owen. xix. 215. and xx. 188; but 
especially in Aiuswo: h- r .>..,.>.;-.. -^^ "^^Ints, in 
Han. L 278, 279 ; and Co ch. iv. 

sect. 6, which treats of the evils of not f>erfornung 
the duty. Dr. En v. 460 — 464. gives six 

^reasons why the s of special grace will 

choose to join the and enter into covenant 

with God." — See Punchard. View. 37, oS : Up- 
ham. Rat. Dis. 49, 50. 

1 Defence, 74. 

CHLRCH. Romish, is it a true one ? — Ainsworth, 
in his reply to Johnson.^ maintains that it is Anti- 
christ ; that there is as much difference between the 
church of Rome now and of old, as between the 
bishop of Rome now and the bishop then : *• The 



CHURCHES. 63 

antichristian church is to be esteemed in a state of 
damnation, though some of God^s elect hidden 
ones are in the same.'' Johnson had maintained 
the contrary in his Treatise on the Reformed 
Churches.^ 

UnHan. i. 323. ^ ib, 314— 320, 

CHURCH-MEETINGS, by whom called,— Vfhile 
ruling elders were considered a separate order of 
church officers, this privilege and duty was sup- 
posed to be vested in the church presbytery in the 
bench of elders. When there came to be but one 
elder in a certain church, he prevented a church 
meeting for fourteen years.^ Cotton Mather ^ says : 
" Nor do the New England churches think that 
ordinarily a church meeting may be regularly held 
without the consent of their pastors." It will be 
evident, however, that the pastors have not usually 
been considered as having power to prevent church 
meetings, if we consult the arguments deduced 
under these heads, viz. : — Ministers, people may 
do their work for them if they refuse ; Officers ab- 
dicate ivhen they refuse to do their duties ; Churches 
begun without officers^ and may continue despite of 
officers; Government, churchy in the people; Power, 
churchy installed in ministry or brethren ? 

^ White's Lamentations in Wise's Vindication, 166. ^ Rat. 
Dis. 164. 

CHURCHES, distinct bodies., i,e. not parts of one 
consolidated one. — Richard Mather, in his Apology,^ 
shows from several passages of Scripture, as 1 Thes. 



64 CHURCHES. 

ii. 14 and Rev. i. 4, that they were considered dis- 
tinct bodies in the days of the apostles. In his 
Church Government,^ he shows that they consisted 
of no more than could meet in one congregation, 
united into one body by a holy covenant; — that 
those within the visible church must necessarily be 
members of particular churches; — that the duty 
of excommunicating incorrigible offenders belongs, 
not to a universal, but to a particular church; — 
and that "judging them that are within," implies 
that they ^yere in particular churches. He quotes 
Mr. Baine,^ that, though churches have power to 
govern themselves, yet, for greater edification, they 
confederate not to use or exercise their power, but 
with mutual communion, one asking counsel and 
consent of the other. And he says,^ that "to bind 
churches to do no weighty matter without the 
counsel and consent of classes were to bind them 
to be imperfect." By the above assertions he seems 
to advocate the advisory, not the judicial power of 
councils. Cotton^ shows that a church must be 
such a body that an offended brother can tell his 
case to, and with them cast the offender out of the 
church. He speaks ^ of " the chimera of a universal 
visible church." Burton "^ challenges the evidence 
of any but particular churches for the first four or 
five hundred years. John Robinson, in his Apo- 
logy,^ is very plain and positive on this point. T. 
Goodwin ^ shows that they must be distinct, — from 
the nature and Scripture process of discipline ; from 
the Scripture examples of their conduct; from in- 
dividual churches being addressed as whole bodies,- 



CHURCHES. 65 

a whole lump, whole flock, &c. ; and their being 
so often addressed in Scripture in the, plural num- 
ber. The doctrine of distinct churches ^^ was one 
of the main positions of the supplication of the 
exiles and others to King James I. on his acces- 
sion. Henry Jacob, in his Divine Beginning and 
Institution of Christ's Church, says : ^^ " Christ 
teacheth, yea requireth, in Matt, xviii. 17, that 
this visible and ministerial church shall be ever of 
one entire outward form, viz. of this special form 
of a particular ordinary congregation and none 
other, ... and the very word ekklesia doth properly 
signify so." In his Declaration it was one of the 
main positions,*^ " that a true church, under the 
gospel, containeth no more congregations but one." 
Francis Johnson ^^ infers, that God hath not or- 
dained any other than particular churches, from 
what is recorded in the Bible of the seven churches 
of Asia generally, and particularly of those at Jeru- 
salem, Lystra, Iconium, Antioch, Troas, Ephesus, 
Rome, Cenchrea, Corinth, Galatia, Philippi, Colosse, 
Laodicea, and Thessalonica. The distinctness of 
churches is urged in the Apologetical Narrative 
of the Independents in the Westminister Assem- 
bly.^ ^ So it is in Bartlett's Model.'' John Owen 
says : '^ "I do not say absolutely that particular 
churches are not the parts of the catholic visible, in 
any sense, but that they are not so parts of it that 
it should be made up by them and of them for the 
order and purpose of an instituted church." He 
shows, in his Original of Churches, chap, iv.'^ that 
a church means an assembly, and therefore has 
6* 



66 CHURCHES. 

reference to those who assemble in one place. 
And, in his Nature of Schism, chap, vii.^^ he shows 
that it was acknowledged by Episcopalians, that a 
church originally consisted of no more than. could 
meet in one place ; and their bishops were Congre- 
gational, and not diocesan. Lord King says : ^^ "I 
find the word church once used by Cyprian for a 
collection of churches ; as the church of Africa and 
Numidia ; otherwise I cannot remember that I ever 
met with it in this sense in any of the writings of 
this^or the rest of the fathers: but, whenever they 
would speak of the Christians in any kingdom or 
province, they always said, in the plural, ' the 
churches ; ' never, in the singular, ' the church ' of 
such a kingdom or province." So much for the tes- 
timony of an impartial witness. The Boston mini- 
sters, in 1690,^^ maintain that particular church 
organizations are indispensable to scriptural disci- 
pline. Isaac Chauncy^^ shows that the Spirit of 
God always speaks of churches, in their respective 
places, as distinct bodies ; each one entire in itself. 
There is not an epistle written to the catholic visi- 
ble church. Each particular congregation had its 
proper elders, relating to it^ and not to the catholic 
visible. So Hunter, in his Life of Oliver Hey- 
wood.^^ Robert Hall ^^ reasons very clearly on this 
point. Ames^* shows from Rev. i. 4 and 2 Cor. 
viii. 1, 19, that there are as many visible churches 
as there are congregations. " Neither ^^ is this 
church, that is instituted by God, properly national, 
provincial, or diocesan ; which forms were brought 
in by men ; but is parochial, or of one congrega- 



CHURCHES. 67 

tion ; the members whereof are combined among 
themselves, and do ordinarily meet in one place, to 
the public exercises of religion." Dr. Hopkins ^^ 
says that every society of visible believers is . . . 
called a chm'ch; as the church at Antioch, the 
church at Ephesus, the churches in Judea, &c. — 
See Church, ivhat constitutes ? In what sense is it 
one ? What number of members constitute ? See 
also Robinson's Apology, in Han. i. 372, 373 ; and 
Upham, Rat. Dis. 44—48. 

* Pages 11, U. 2 Pages 9—11. ^ jb. q5, 4 jb, s ^Vay of 
the Churches, 1, 2. ^ lb. 10. '^ Answer to Prynne's Full Heply, 
21. 8 In Hanbury, i. 372—374 ; and Works, iii. 12—17. » Ch. 
Gov. 51, 52, 63. 235; and Catechism, 6. i<^ Han. i. 114. "lb. 
229. ^2 lb. 231. 1^ Reformed Churches, in ib. 314. ^* lb. ii. 225. 
15 Ib. iii. 246—248. ^^ Vindication Cong. Churches, ib. 457. 
" Vol. XX. 122. i« Yol. xix. 214. ^^ Enquiry, part i. 4, 5. 
^ Principles of the Protestant Religion, 129. ^^ Divine Inst. Cong. 
Churches, 34, 35. ^a Page 58. ^3 YqI. i. 332, 333. ^4 Marrow of 
Sacred Divinity, 139. ^5 lb. 178. 26 System, ii. 224. 

CHURCHES, instituted bodies. — Dr. Goodwin 
wrote the first two books of his Church Govern- 
ment to prove " that the order and government of 
the churches are established by divine institution ; 
. . . that Christ has settled ordinances for worship 
and discipline, which are to continue to the end of 
the world ; . . . that a Congregational church is 
thus of divine institution ; . . . that Christ instituted 
such a church in Matt, xviii. ; . . . that such Congre- 
gational churches were primitive and apostolical ; 
. . . and that Christ hath not only instituted a Con- 
gregational church, but appointed what the extent 
ahd limits of it should be." The treatise is too 



68 CHURCHES. 

extensive to admit of even an epitome in a single 
article. Suffice it to say, that, when the student 
has read and digested the whole work of four hun- 
dred and sixty-two folio pages, it will not be easy 
for him to conclude that Congregationalism is a 
nonentity. Then let him read the four Mathers, 
Owen, Wa.tts, Isaac Chauncy, and a host of others, 
and he may begin to mistrust that there were giants 
in the earth even in those scouted puritanical days. 
Owen,^ in his Original of Churches, chaps, i. iii., 
shows that God only can change the state or dis- 
pensation of his church ; that the original of their 
church state is derived dnectly from Christ, as to 
their right and title ; that whatever is required in 
them, by the light of nature, is of divine institution ; 
and that, as the Scriptures require a church, it is 
lawful for Christians to gather into one. Samuel 
Mather^ also asserts that the ecclesiastical state is 
a divine institution. Davenport says : ^ " Because 
all nations could not be joined together in one 
visible church, the Lord Jesus instituted a Congre- 
gational church, and calls every Congregational 
church his church." — See Chauncy's Divine Insti- 
tution of Cong. Churches, 23, 30, 51, 52 ; and 
Upham, Rat. Dis. 34, 47. See Government, churchy 
instituted. Not lawful to alter. Not varied to suit 
circumstances. 

^ Yol. XX. 65—79, 99. ^ Apology, 31. ^ Power of Congrega- 
tional Churches, in Han. ii. 63. 

CHURCHES, the primitive^ were Congregational. 
— Goodwin argues this point at large in the sixth, 



CHURCHES. 69 

seventh, eighth, and ninth chapters of his second 
book on Church Government, — from instances of 
primitive churches- planted by the apostles, as that 
of Corinth, required to do church-work within itself, 
by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, as to judge 
them that were within, excommunicate, and the 
like; — from several texts, as 1 Cor. xi. 18; Rom. 
xvi. 1 — 5 ; 1 Cor. iv. 17. He shows,^ that the word 
church never means an assembly of officers, but of 
the people. He also argues the same from in- 
stances of the churches settled by the apostles in 
the lesser cities, and also from the fact that the 
churches of the several cities were entire churches, 
having government within themselves. Even Arch- 
bishop Whitgift^ declares that the "state of the 
church was popular in the apostles' time." See 
Murdock's Mosheim, ed. 1832, i. 81—86. Neander 
says ^ that each individual church had a bishop and 
presbyter of its own, and assumed to itself the 
rights of a little distinct republic or commonwealth. 
Samuel Mather^ maintains that every church, for 
the first two hundred years, was Congregational, and 
that churches were then always spoken of in the 
plural number. And^ he quotes from Father Paul 
of Venice, and Cyprian, to show that the church in 
the beginning had altogether a democratic form, 
and how it was gradually changed. Isaac Chauncy ^ 
shows that " either a Congregational church is of 
divine institution, or else God hath no instituted 
church." — See Punchard, View, 122 ; also Cotton's 
Way of the Churches Cleared, chap. iv. 93 — 99, 
See Churches, distinct bodies. 



70 CHURCHES. 

1 Page 73. * In Han. i. 10. ^ In Hall's Puritans, 307. ^ Apo- 
logy, 10—13. ^ lb. 27, 28. « Divine Inst. Cong. Churches, 30. 

CHURCHES subject to no external jurisdiction, — 
This has ever been a cardinal doctrine of strict 
Congregationalism. Bradshaw ' says : " Christ has 
not subjected any church or congregation to any 
other superior ecclesiasticar jurisdiction than that 
which is within itself; ... no other churches or 
spiritual officers have power to censure or punish 
them, but only to counsel and advise them." Dr. 
Price says ^ of the Independents in the Westmin- 
ster Assembly : " They were distinguished from the 
Presbyterians by maintaining the absolute inde- 
pendence of each church, so far as jurisdiction 
and discipline are concerned, and by denying the 
communication of spiritual power in ordination." 
Themselves explain, in their Apologetical Narra- 
tive :^ " Not that they claim an entire independency 
with regard to other churches ; for they agree, that, 
in all cases of offence, the offending is to submit to 
an open examination by other neighbor churches ; 
and, on their persisting in their error or miscarriage, 
then they are to renounce all Christian communion 
with them till they repent ; which is all the authority 
or ecclesiastical power which one church has over 
another." This they call a " middle way between 
Brownism and Presbytery." Davenport^ held the 
power of every particular church to be chief in 
its own particular matters. The publisher to his 
Power of Congregational Churches says : ^ " There 
are two things which run through this whole dis- 



CHURCHES. 71 

course, and are legible in every line of it : First, 
that the power of churches is confined to their res 
propria^ their own proper matters; second, that 
there is not any spiritual church power, to which 
they are, by the institution of Christ, subjected ; — 
two grand pillar-principles of the Congregational 
way." The treatise on the Institution of Churches, 
in the Savoy Confession, says : ^ " Besides these 
particular churches, there is not instituted any church 
more extensive or catholic;" and the whole con- 
nection shows that they are subject to no jurisdic- 
tion out of themselves. Hooker^ clearly admits the 
same principle, and only admits counsel " to clear 
the truth." In Hutchinson's History of Massachu- 
setts ^ it is laid down as a fundamental principle of 
Congregationalism, " That there is no jurisdiction, 
to which particular churches are or ought to be 
subject, by way of authoritative censure." And the 
Congregational Union of England and Wales, in 
1833, re-affirmed the same doctrine in their Decla- 
ration of Faith and Order,^ art. iv. : " They believe 
that the New Testament authorizes every Christian 
church ... to stand independent, and irresponsible 
to all authority, saving that only supreme and 
divine Head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ." 
Letchford, in his Plain Dealing,^^ says : " No church 
or officers have power over another, but by ad- 
vice or counsel voluntarily given or besought." Dr. 
Stiles says : ** " Our churches acknowledge no 
jurisdiction of sister churches over them, but hold 
themselves to be capable, and to have the power, 
to determine all matters of discipline that arise in a 



72 CHURCHES. 

particular church." And ^^ "the moment jurisdic- 
tion enters, like creating Caesar perpetual dictator, 
the beginning of the absolute loss of liberty com- 
mences. . . . The exigencies of the Christian church 
can never be such as to legitimate, much less to 
render it wise, to erect any body of men into a 
standing judicatory over them." Punchard ^^ quotes 
Mosheim, Murdock's edition, i. 80 — 86, abundantly 
sustaining the same doctrines. — See Council ; 
Synod; Churches distinct bodies; Foweb, church, 
installed in ministry or brethren ? 

^ English Puritanism, chap. ii. art. 4, in Neal's Puritans, i. 248. 
2 lb. 462, note. ^ lb. 492. ^ Paget, in Han. r. 541, 545. ^ lb. ii. 
61. ^ Art. vi. 26 ; iii. 545. ^ Survey, part iii. 40—44. « Vol. i. 
371. * In Han. iii. 600. ^° In Mass. Hist. Soc. Col. series iii. vol. 
iii. 74. 11 Conyen. Serm. 45. ^^ p^ges 89, 91. ^^ yigw, 145, 146. 

CHURCHES discipline each other, but not juridi- 
cally, — Goodwin' says: "Churches proceed with 
churches not politice, or as armed by Christ with 
juridical power of giving up to Satan ; but they 
proceed and deal with each other 7nodo mystico, or 
with a moral declarative power only." He shows ^ 
that though one church has a right to call upon 
another to give them satisfactionj yet it may not 
abridge their liberty. He maintains ^ that synods 
have no juridical power thus to judge churches, 
and* that this power to discipline is only in a moral 
way, in distinction from an instituted one. Book 
V. chap. 12, he devotes to showing that though no 
church nor churches have power to excommunicate 
another church, yet they have power to declare 
non-communion with them ; but that they are a 



CHURCHES. 73 

church still. The apologists in the Westminister 
Assembly^ hold the same doctrine. Cotton, in his 
Keys,^ seems to advocate the same, yet in the next 
page he appears to hold that there was a kind of 
juridical power vested in synods, though he had 
just asserted that there was none. The framers of 
the Cambridge Platform certainly held that they 
had no such power ; for they speak '^ of the third 
way of communion, by way of admonition, and of 
non-communion with the erring members only; 
and^ they expressly deny juridical authority to sy- 
nods also. In 1744 an instance of such discipline 
occurred in the case of the First Church in Glouces- 
ter IK the Second Church in Bradford.^ The church 
in Bradford admitted the right thus to discipline, 
but denied being obnoxious in the case at issue. 
The defendants triumphed.^^ Samuel Mather ^^ 
recognizes this right of disciplining and withdraw- 
ing communion from other churches, and says that 
it is thus that Congregational churches can be dis- 
tinguished from Brownistical. (It probably cannot, 
however, be made to appear that either Brown or 
his immediate followers denied this right of disci- 
plining by non-communion. See Brownists. See 
also Punchard's History, 248.) Cotton Mathers- 
describes the details of a method of procedure in 
such cases. He cites ^^ the single instance in which 
the churches represented in council proceeded thus 
to withdraw communion. The Answer of the 
New England Elders to the Nine Positions** re- 
cognizes the power of the churches to withdraw 
communion from a church which should unjustly 
7 



74 CHURCHES 

persist in deposing its minister. Burton '^^ shows 
the manner in which this is done, and " a brotherly 
account required, without selling over the liberty 
of each church to others, so that it ceases to be a 
free church of Christ under his only jurisdiction." 
The Independents in the Westminister Assembly ^^ 
maintain the same doctrine. Dr. Eckley^"^ shows 
that, in case churches abuse their liberty, other 
churches may withdraw communion from them ; 
which, however, should be done with great caution. 
In the official narrative of the proceedings of an 
ecclesiastical council convened in Salem in 1734, it 
appears *^ that the council assembled on the 20th 
of July, and sent a " Letter of Solemn Advice " to 
the church, threatening them with non-communion 
unless they complied; and adjourned to the 15th 
of October to give them time. The council, re- 
assembled,*^ executed their threatening, still giving 
a probation of three months, and wrote to the 
churches in the Commonwealth to sustain them. 
(See Felt's Annals of Salem, ii. 594, 595.) The 
pamphlets on this controversy fill a whole volume. 
Mr. Fiske the minister, and a majority of his church, 
did not approve of this " third way of communion ; " 
disregarded the sentence, and outlived the storm. 
(See Council expires when^ 8fC,) President Stiles ^^ 
says : " No church was hereticated for not receiving 
the result of a synod." — See Upham, Rat. Dis. 177, 
209; Punchard, View, 116, 185; both sustaining 
and describing the same course. — See Churches 
subject to no external jurisdiction; Discipline of one 
church by another. 



CHUKCHES. 75 

» Church. Gov. 4. « lb. 149. ^ lb. 204— 211. ^ lb. 234. ^ i^ 
Han. ii. 226, 227. ^ Page 100. ' chap. xv. » Chap. xvi. sect. 4. 
^ Letters of First Church in Gloucester to the Second Church in 
Bradford. ^^ Eliot, Biog. Diet. 41, 42. ^^ Apology, 134, 141. 
^2 Rat. Dis. 162, 172. '^ lb. 161. ^^ In Han. ii. 38. ^^ lb. 396. 
'^ lb. 509. 17 Dudlean Lect. 17. ^« Pages 66, 67. '^ lb. 90, 92 
^ Convention Sermon, 60, 61. 

CHURCHES, objects o/. — Owen/ in his Original 
of Churches, chap, iv., lays it down as the main 
object of churches to subject our souls to Christ's 
authority, that they may be taught what he com- 
mands, and for the joint celebration of the ordi- 
nances of the gospel. 

1 Works, XX. 114, 115. 

CHURCHES, all Christians may establish, — 
Goodwin argues this largely in his Church Govern- 
ment, showing^ that otherwise many true Christians 
must ever remain out of the church of God. The 
same we have seen to have been the opinion of 
John Robinson.^ Increase Mather, on the contrary,^ 
maintains that it is indispensable to the establish- 
ment of these churches, that a consociation be 
formed, with power to disown all new churches not 
constituted by neighbor churches. This was in a 
work of his somewhat advanced age; and none 
conversant with their history and works can fail to 
see that the son guided the father's hand in com- 
posing this work. — See Elders; Presbytery, 
church has power over it. See also the next article 
but one, viz. Churches begun tvithout officers, SfC, 

^ Pages 256 — 262. ~ See Church, what constitutes 'i ^ Disqui- 
sition on Ecclesiastical Councils, 34. 



76 CHURCHES. 

CHURCHES, the seat of all power necessary to 
church acts, — So declares the Savoy Confession.^ 
It affirms^ that the churches receive this power 
immediately from Christ himself. But Increase 
Mather, and some of the New England divines, 
who were striving for consociation and the veto 
power of ministers, maintained that there could not 
be a valid church act without the consent of the 
elders, as well as the brethren.^ Dr. Mather strives 
to make out that this is a dividing point between 
Congregationalism and Brownism ; but both the 
Savoy Conference and the Cambridge Synod main- 
tained the reverse. Prince "^ records this among the 
principles of John Robinson's church, " that any 
competent number of saints have a right to embody 
into a church for mutual edification." Dr. Wisner^ 
states, that those opposed to Mr. Davenport, in the 
First Church in Boston, who made application for 
a dismission, when refused, proceeded to organize 
themselves into a church, according to the advice of 
council. Dr. Wisner deprecates the triumph of a 
wrong theology in this new organization, but says 
that " it is to be rejoiced in as confirming the rights 
of those who had been deprived of them." 

^ Art. iv., V. ill Han. iii. 64:5, ^ lb. ^ Dis. Ecc. Councils, Pref. 
iv. 4 Chronology, 91. '" Hist. Old South Church, Boston, 8, 10. 

CHURCHES begun loithout officers^ and may con- 
tinue without them^ and act despite of them. — John 
Robinson says : ^ " Whence it followeth, that both 
church matters, yea, and churches also, may^ and in 
some cases must^ be begun without ofiicers; yea, 



CHURCHES. 77 

even where officers are, if they fail to do their duties, 
the people may enterprise matters needful,^ howsoever 
you will have the minister the only primum movenSj 
and will tie all to his fingers." Hooker ^ says : " A 
church, as totum essentiale, is and may be before 
the officers." He shows ^ that churches have the 
power of admitting new members, of the choice of 
officers, and, in case the officer is heretical and 
absolutely wicked, of rejecting him and making him 
no officer. A church is before its officers. He main- 
tains, however,* that a church is incomplete with- 
out its officers. Owen^ shows that a church is 
before its officers, and bishops are not necessary to 
gather it, nor ordination necessary to it ; for, other- 
wise, " one proud sensual beast," ordained in the 
succession, " has more power than the most holy 
church on the earth." Cambridge Platform,^ though 
it recognizes a power of office, yet declares that the 
church have power of privilege, and may designate 
the persons to office ; and '^ it recognizes the power 
as vested in them; "it being natural to all bodies, 
and so to a church body, to be furnished with suffi- 
cient power for its own preservation and subsist- 
ence." The right of the negative vote is, however, 
asserted by Higginson and Hubbard, in the Post- 
script to their Testimony to the Order of the Gos- 
pel in the Churches of New England. But it has 
been rather rarely claimed by pastors or elders, and 
generally resisted by the people since that time. 
Cambridge Platform ^ also affirms, that, in cases of 
mal-administration, the elders are subject to the 
power of the church. Isaac Chauncy ^ shows that 



78 CHURCHES. 

a church must be constituted before it can choose 
a pastor. A church is empowered from Christ to 
choose its own ministerial officers, "before such a 
church hath elders or deacons. These are plain 
from the nature of a body corporate." — See various 
documents concerning troubles in the Sou. Church 
in Reading, about 1846 ; Adams, Zabdiel, in Eliot, 
Biog. Diet. ; Hist, of Sterling, in Worcester Mag. 
vol. ii. for 1826 ; also Zabdiel Adams, Answer to 
Treatise on Church Government. See also Pas- 
tors, have they a negative vote in the church? 
Church, ministers not necessary to constitute; Pow- 
er, churchy installed in ministry or brethren ? 

^ Reply to Bernard, in Han. i. 212 ; and "Works, ii. 148. ^ Pre- 
face to his Survey. ^ Survey, part i. 10 — 93. ^ Part ii. 2. ^ Ori- 
ginal of Churches, chap. iii. ; Works, xx. 108 — 110. ® Chap. v. 
sect. 2. ■'' Chap. x. sect. 2. ^ Chap. x. sect. 7. ^ Divine Inst. 
Cong. Churches, 49, 50. 

CHURCHES, censures^ admissions^ and all ordi- 
nary matters of^ in the people. — This has been the 
doctrine of all Congregationalists, so far as the 
primary decisions of the churches are concerned. 
The whole doctrine of authoritative appeals to 
councils or to consociations places the power some- 
where else. Strict Congregationalists have always 
placed it in the whole brotherhood. The twenty- 
fourth article of the Confession of the Low Country 
Exiles says : * " Christ has given the power to 
receive in or cast off any member to the whole 
body of every Christian congregation, and not to 
any one member or more members, ... or any other 
congregation to do it for them ; yet so as that each 



CHURCHES. 79 

congregation ought to use the best help they can 
hereunto, and the most meet member they have to 
pronounce the same in the public assembly." The 
Savoy Confession says : ^ " Every church hath 
power in itself to exercise and execute all those 
censures appointed by him in the way and orde 
prescribed in the gospel." Cambridge Platform^ 
says : " The whole church hath power to proceed 
to the censure of the offending member, whether 
by admonition or excommunication." In the Direc- 
tory of Church Government of the Puritans in the 
reign of Elizabeth,^ it is asserted that " for all the 
greater affairs of the church, as in excommunica- 
tion of any, and choosing and deposing of church 
ministers, nothing may be concluded without the 
consent of the church." So of admissions, the 
Savoy Confession says : ^ " Nor may any person 
be added to the church, as a private member, but 
by consent of the church." So, too, of all the 
common affairs of the church, Congregationalists 
maintain that all the brotherhood are to act in 
them. Ainsworth ^ enumerates a list of these com- 
mon affairs, in which the primitive and apostolical 
churches engaged. Hooker^ also enumerates a 
number of such things, which churches have cer- 
tainly the power to do. Samuel Mather * shows 
that the whole church have power to act, as they 
did in the apostolic times, in the establishment of 
the order of deacons, assisting in their ordination, 
and directing concerning the circumstances of the 
Gentile converts, &c. — See Churches, the seat of 
all power necessarrj to church acts. 



80 CHURCHES. 

* Han. i. 95. ^ Art. xviii. of Discipline, in Han. iii. 547. 
^ Chap. X. sect. 5. * In Neal's Puritans, ii. 440. ^ In ib. 179. 
^ Communion of Churches, in Han. i. 282. '^ Survey, part. i. 193. 
" Preface to Apology. 

CHURCHES, their members have equal rights, — 
This has always been the doctrine of strict Congre- 
gationalists. It was maintained by the ancient 
Waldenses/ " that none in the church ought to be 
greater than their brethren." The Leyden Church ^ 
maintained the same. The Answer (Burton's) to 
Prynne's Full Reply ^ declares it to be the law of 
nature for every one to join in such a society, where 
every man may have his own personal vote in 
every thing which concerns him. (ISTo wonder that 
Prynne accused him of sentiments adverse to mo- 
narchy.) In the State of the Kingdom Stated ^ is 
shown the evils which obtain where this principle 
is discarded, and where negative votes, with veto 
power in members, are admitted. 

1 In Punchard's Hist. 105. ^ Jb. 335. a p^ge 23. * in Han. 
iu. 234. 

CHURCHES, equal and independent of each other, 
— Bradshaw ^ says : " Churches are in all ecclesi- 
astical matters equal; . . . Christ has not subjected 
any church or congregation to any other superior 
ecclesiastical jurisdiction than to that which is 
within itself; so that, if a whole church or congre- 
gation should err in any matters of faith or worship, 
no churches or spiritual officers have power to cen- 
sure or punish them, but are only to counsel and 
advise them." The Nonconformist Directory of 



CHURCHES. 81 

Elizabeth's reign ^ says : " Of all particular churches 
there is one and the same right, order, and form ; 
therefore none may challenge to itself power over 
others.'' John Cook (Cromwell's principal Secre- 
tary) ^ holds " a subordination of officers in the 
same church, but an equality in the several congre- 
gations, which, as sisters, depend not upon one 
another, but are helpful to one another ; . . . not 
excepting against consultative, persuasive, and de- 
liberative synods, but the ruling synod that shall 
command any thing imperio voIuntatisJ^ Mather, 
in his Answer to Rutherford,^ argues that churches 
are all equal and independent. — See Churches 
discipline each other, but not juridically ; subject to no 
external jurisdiction ; Councils; Consociation. 

^ English Puritanism, chap. ii. sect. 2, 3, in Neal's Puritans, 
i. 248. ^ lb. ii. 440. ^ What the Independents would Have, in 
Han. iii. 251. ^ lb. ii. 184. 

CHURCHES, what ones we shoidd not join, — 
Owen^ maintains that though the members of the 
ancient churches were of one mind, so far as was 
necessary to joint communion, yet they differed 
about some doctrines. He shows that Christians 
ought not to join any church where any fundamen- 
tal article of faith is rejected or corrupted, nor 
where any fundamental doctrine of religious wor- 
ship, church order, or the gospel ministry, is per- 
verted. — See Creeds; Catholicism; Confessions 
OF Faith ; Separation ; Schism ; Churches, what 
ones we should separate from, 

* Original of Churches, chap. x. ; Works, xx. 202 — 204. 



82 CHURCHES. 

CHURCHES, what ones we should separate from. 
— Goodwin ^ lays it down as a rule, that when to 
the enjoying of ordinances any thing must be prac- 
tised which is sinful, or where by continuing a 
member he must tolerate what he is bound not 
to tolerate, that from such a church he is bound to 
separate, though he might not consider them so 
corrupt but that he might occasionally commune 
with them, while he had no responsibility as to 
tolerating the evils which were retained in it. He 
evidently had his eye, in the first instance, to kneel- 
ing at the communion, which many considered as 
adoration of the emblems ; and, in the second, to 
churches practising mixed communion w4th those 
who did not profess experimental religion. The 
twelfth chapter of his seventh book is devoted to 
showing, that such separation for conscience' sake 
ought to be allowed. The Savoy Declaration ^ 
maintains the same doctrine. — See Churches, ivhat 
ones lue should iiot join; Separation, Schism. 

^ Church Gov. 261. ^ On Discipline, art. xxviii. in Han. iii. 
548. 



CHURCHES, hoiD they should proceed ioivards a 
disorderly member of another church, — John Cotton^ 
argues that they should complain to the church of 
which the offender is a member. If they neglect, 
call a council ; and, if the church still persist in ob- 
stinacy, withdraw communion from them till they 
acknowledge their transgression. 

1 Way of the Churches, 51. 



CHURCHES. 83 

CHURCHES, proper proceedings when their pas- 
tors offend, — » Cambridge Platform ^ directs that the 
church first remove him from office (by council 
where it may be had), and then, if need be, deal 
with him, and cast him out as any other member. 
Cotton Mather ^ lays down the details of a proper 
process (with council) in such a case. — See Disci- 
pline, mode of; Minister, how deposed ; Pastor, 
censurable by his church ; a member of his church. 

^ Chap. X. sect. 6. ^ Rat. Dis. 162—167. 

CHURCHES should assist their feeble sisters, — 
Cambridge Platform ^ recognizes the duty of the 
more able of the churches to assist the weaker ones, 
founded on the Scripture example of the Gentile 
churches sending succor to the poor Christians at 
Jerusalem, and from various portions of Scripture. 
The Congregationalists have always been distin- 
guished for their missionary spirit 
^ Chap, XV. sect. 2. 

CHURCHES, early liberality of New England, — 
Dr. Ware, History of Old North and New Brick 
Churches, Boston,^ informs us, that in 1726 a church 
in Boston contributed sixty pounds for the propa- 
gation of the gospel, and that all the churches in 
Boston contributed ten thousand two hundred and 
seventy-three pounds for the sufferers by the fire in 
1760. Probably more was done formerly, in pro- 
portion to the means, for the spread and support of 
the gospel, than at present. 

» Page 60, 



84 committee's church. 

See further on the general subject of churches 
under the heads, Discipline, Dismission, Members. 

COLLECTIONS, iveekly.— The^e were practised 
by some of the churches in Cotton Mather's time,* 
who supposed them required in 2 Cor. xvi. 2. Oat 
of these their church expenses were paid or assisted. 
Some moderns are beginning to revive the doctrine 
as applicable to charitable objects. This passage, 
however, is more generally considered as of special 
application. — See Gifts and Offerings, weekly, 

1 Rat. Dis. 62. 

COMMENTARIES. — John Robinson ' says : 
" The simple necessity of commentaries and inter- 
pretations, which God requires for becoming an 
ordinary prophet, I dare not acknowledge. Of 
great use are they, but not of simple necessity. The 
prerogative of simple necessity I would challenge 
as peculiar to the Holy Scriptures." One of the 
Genevan Disputants argues ^ that " men do diverse- 
ly offend, as they, on the one hand, slight God's 
gifts to the fathers; and, on the other, receive their 
comments without comparing them with the word 
of God." 

^ People's Plea for Prophecy, v. Yates, in Han. i. 355 ; and 
Works, iii. 298, 299. ^ page 160. 

COMMITTEE'S CHURCH. — See Church, o#. 
cers of; Officers, what ? God^s gift^ and not to be 
multiplied at discretion] Power, churchy cannot be 
given away nor delegated; Standing Committees. 



COMMUNION. 85 

COMMUNION, terms of. — John Howe ' says : 
" Suppose you judge concurrence in the use of a 
liturgy a sin, and the unprescribed way a duty, yet 
who hath empowered you to make such sins exclu- 
sive from Christian communion ? . . . Hath God for- 
bidden any to be admitted to Christian communion, 
but such as are absolutely perfect in knowledge and 
holiness ?" In his preface to Carnality of Religious 
Contentions,^ he says, " Whose is this table? Is it 
the table of this or that man, or party of men? or 
is it the Lord's table ? Then certainly it ought to 
be free to his guests ; and who should dare invite 
others, or forbid these ? " In his Sermon concern- 
ing Union among Protestants, he says : ^ " To do 
any thing against the preponderating influence of 
my own judgment and conscience were great 
wickedness, and would unfit me for any commu- 
nion whatever." This he applies against making 
terms of communion to which all Christians cannot 
conscientiously accede. In his Peace God's Bless- 
ing, he says,^ " We are expressly required to receive 
one another (which cannot but mean to one an- 
other's communion), and that not to doubtful dispu- 
tations." Robert Hall argues the doctrine of open 
communion in a most masterly jnanner in his 
Terms of Communion, and his Replies to King- 
horn and to Fuller. He suras up his arguments 
for the doctrine* as follows : "We have endeavored 
to show, that the practice of strict communion de- 
rives no support from the supposed priority of bap- 
tism to the Lord's Supper, in the order of the insti- 
tution, which is exactly the reverse ; that it is not 
8 



86 COMMUNION. 

countenanced by the tenor of the apostles' com- 
mission, nor by apostolic precedent, the spirit of 
which is in our favor; that the opposite practice is 
enforced by the obligations of Christian charity • 
that it is indubitably comprehended in the canon 
which enjoins forbearance towards mistaken bre- 
thren • that the system of our opponents unchurches 
every Pedobaptist community; that it rests on no 
general principle ; attempts to establish an impos- 
sible medium; inflicts a punishment which is ca- 
pricious and unjust; and finally, that, by fomenting 
prejudice and precluding the most effectual means 
of conviction, it defeats its own purpose." See 
also, for his most convincing remarks, vol. i. 403, 
437 ; and ii. 210. His arguments for open com- 
munion are very replete, and should be studied by 
all who inquire what the Lord would have them 
to do. — See Baptism, is it indispensable to commu- 
nion? Creeds. 

^ Works, 184. ^ jb. 457. 3 j^. 480. lb. 931. * Works, 
i. 359. 

COMMUNION, occasional^ snould be open. — The 
Savoy Confession shows,' " That churches, consist- 
ing of persons sound in the faith, and of a good 
conversation, ought not to refuse communion with 
each other, though they walk not in all things ac- 
cording to the same rule of church order; and if 
they judge other churches to be true churches, 
though less pure, they may receive to occasional 
communion such members of these churches as are 
credibly testified to be godly and to live without 



COMMUNION. 87 

offence.'* Ainsworth, Answer to Paget, says : ^ 
^' Those that are worthy to be received into the 
true visible church, . . . with them I hold it to be 
lawful to have private communion." Robinson, 
in his Apology,^ says : " Touching the reformed 
churches, we account them true churches of Jesus 
Christ, and both profess and practise communion 
with them. . . . The sacraments we do administer 
to their members, if, by occasion, any of them be 
present with us." The Independents, in their An- 
swer to the Grand Committee in the Westminster 
Assembly, are equally explicit on this point.^ Cam- 
bridge Platform,^ Hooker's Survey,^ and Watts's 
Terms of Communion, quest, xi.'^ recognize the 
same doctrine ; though Watts is less catholic than 
Congregationalists in general, of his day, on the 
question, — Whether all good Christians should be 
received as members of the churches ? Taylor, in 
his Vindication of Dissenters,^ shows that a Chris- 
tian is obliged to hold " occasional communion, 
unless he may live like a heathen a year where he 
sojourns." R. Hall, in his Terms of Communion,^ 
handles the argument for such open communion in 
an irrefutable manner.^^ He asserts that no trace 
of the doctrine of close communion can be found 
among the ancient Waldensian Baptists. — See 
Creeds ; Catholicism of Congregational churches, 

1 111 Neal, Puritans, ii. 179. ^ i^ Han. i. 338. » lb. 372. 
* lb. iii. 50. ^ Chap. xv. sect. 2. « Part i. 295. ^ Works, iii. 285. 
« Page 75. ^ Works, i. 292—321. ^" lb. 354. 

COMMUNION, occasional^ introduction to. — Cot- 



88 COMMUNION. 

ton Mather ^ says : " The pastor having first men- 
tioned the names of the persons belonging to other 
churches, who request a part in the present com- 
munion, he then addresses himself, with all possible 
solemnity, to the celebration." The more usual 
method now is to invite the members in good stand- 
ing of all churches, leaving it to the consciences of 
the strangers to decide whether they are such as 
the inviting church intends to fellowship as Chris-. 

tians. 

1 Rat. Dis. 97. 

COMMUNION, true^ exists just in proportion to 
purity. — Goodwin is very explicit on this point, 
laboring it at large in his fifth Book on Church 
Government.^ Hetherington, a Presbyterian writer, 
says : ^ ^' The Independents did not, like the Brown- 
ists, condemn every other church as too corrupt 
and antichristian for intercommunion." Robinson, 
in his Apology, says : ^ " Our faith is not negative, 
. . . nor which consists in condemning others, and 
wiping their names out of the bead-roll of churches ; 
. . . neither require we of any of ours, in the confes- 
sion of their faith, that they either renounce, or 
in one word contest with the church of England, 

WHATSOEVER THE WORLD CLAMORS OF US THIS WAY." 

The Westminster Assembly Independents say, in 
their Apologetical Narrative : ^ " We always have 
professed that we both did and would hold commu- 
nion "with the churches of England as the churches 
of Christ. ... It never entered our minds to judge 
them as antichristian." Jacob, in his Declaration, 
says : * " For my part I never was nor am separated 



CONFERENCES. 89 

from all public communion with the congregations 
of England." Robert Hall maintains the same 
doctrine ^ from the injunction to receive him that is 
weak in faith. And he says/ '^ Placing Pedobap- 
tists, who form the great body of the faithful, on 
the same level with men of impure and vicious 
lives, is equally repugnant to reason and offensive 
to charity." — See Catholicism. 

1 Pages 222—237. ^ Neal, Puritans, i. 489. ^ Han. i. 384 ; and 
Works, iii. 63. * lb. ii. 223, 224. sib.i.230. « Vol. i. 326. ^ lb. 331. 

CONFERENCE meetings. — T. Goodwin' main- 
tains the duty of all members of churches to learn 
each other's spiritual state, not merely privately, 
but in the churches. This privilege has generally 
been maintained among Congregationalists, though 
some have endeavored to confine this work to 
ministers. Upham, in his Ratio Disciplinse, says : ^ 
" Private meetings of Christians are kept up, as in 
former times ; nor can it be otherwise, so long as 
the true Congregational spirit remains." He quotes 
Cotton Mather, Rat. Dis. art. x. : " It is usual 
among us for Christians to hold private meetings, 
wherein they do with various exercises edify one 
another." He (Cotton Mather) proceeds to describe 
the method in which these conference meetings 
were conducted. — See Prophesying. 

Ch. Gov. 298—303. ^ Pages 252, 253. 

CONFERENCES of cAwrcAe^. — Upham devotes 
the twenty-third chapter of his Ratio Disciplinae * 
to a description of these, as they now exist in vari- 
8=^ 



90 CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 

ous portions of New England. He traces the plans 
for establishing them back to the synod of 1662, 
and even to John Cotton, who drew up a plan for 
such conferences near the time of his death, which 
may be found in Increase Mather's First Principles 
of New England. Upham shows at length the 
objects, method, and benefits of such church con- 
ferences. 

^ Pages 240—249. 

CONFESSIONS OF FAlTB^their use and abuse. 
The Preface to the Savoy Confession ^ says : " Con- 
fessions, when made by a company of professors of 
Christianity, jointly meeting to that end, . . . the 
most genuine and natural use of such is, that, under 
the form of words, they express the substance of 
the same common salvation. . . . And, accordingly, 
such a transaction is to be looked upon but as a 
meet or fit medium whereby to express that their 
common faith and salvation, and in no way to be 
made use of as an imposition upon any. What- 
ever is of force or constraint, in matters of this na- 
ture, cause th them to degenerate from the name and 
nature of confessions^ and turns them from being' 
confessions of faith into impositions and exactions of 
faith; . . . there being nothing that tends more to 
heighten dissensions among brethren than to deter- 
mine and adopt the matter of tjjeir difference under 
so high a title as to be an article of our faith." 
Upham ^ maintains that churches " have a right to 
say on what conditions others, either individuals or 
bodies of men, shall share their fellowship ; " saying, 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 91 

^' They can enter into fellowship with others with 
whose principles they more nearly agree." This 
reasoning seems to hold only on the supposition 
that churches are strictly voluntary, in distinction 
from divinely instituted, bodies. If churches are of 
divine institution, then all true Christians have a 
right to share in them all the privileges of the sons 
of God. It is their Father's table and their Fa- 
ther's church ; and what right have their brethren 
to debar them ? — See Creeds. 

1 In Han. iii. 517—528. ^ Rat. Dis. 57. 

CONFESSION of secret 5m.— Increase Mather 
says ^ that some secret sins " ought not to be made 
public" by him who has committed them. 

1 Order of N. E. Churches Justified, 30. 

CONFESSION for sin. — See Repentance, how 
manifested. 

CONFUSED RECORDS, how to be interpreted. 
In the Answer to the Hampshire Narrative,^ we 
find that an ambiguous passage on the church re- 
cords was interpreted by taking the sense of the 
church, when re-assembled, as to what shouid have 
been recorded. 

^ Page 43. 

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES, early his- 
tory of — Congregationalists maintain that the 
primitive apostolical churches were all Congrega- 
tional. This was admitted even by their opposers 



92 CONGREGATIOXAL CHURCHES. 

in the early days of the controversy. Archbishop 
Whitgift asserts^ that "the state of the church 
wa's popular in the apostles' time." (See Churches, 
primitive^ ivere Congregational ; and Corruptions 
of primitive churches,) In the early days of the 
reformation, Wickliffe advocated most of the essen- 
tial doctrines of the Congregational polity.^ The 
sufficiency of the Scriptures, the constitution of the 
church of visible saints, the liberty of the form of 
worship, and the two orders of officers, were the 
prime articles of his ecclesiastical creed.^ In 1550, 
John Aiasco, or a Lasco, a Polish nobleman, gath- 
ered a church of German refugees in London, and 
advocated most of the doctrines of Congregation- 
alism. He proceeded under the great seal of King 
Edward VI. " out of his great desire to settle a like 
reformation in the English churches." ^ His church 
was scattered, and he banished, by the bloody 
Mary. He returned in the reign of Elizabeth, but 
could not get his former privileges confirmed, though 
she permitted Grindal to be the superintendent of 
his church, and confirmed its character.^ But, even 
in Mary's time, we are assured that there were 
many Congregational churches meeting secretly.^ 
And "no church but such as was substantially con- 
gregational could have existed, in an organized 
form, during the terrible persecutions of Mary's 
reign ;"^ a striking indication that God designed 
this form of government for his churches in their 
state of trial. In 1554, the English exiles, with Mr. 
Whittingham, went to Frankfort, and established 
their church, July 29, on Congregational principles, 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 93 

making the church the dernier resort in all contro- 
versies, — chose their ministers and deacons, omit- 
ting many of the superstitions in the Service-book 
of Edward VI. Another such church was about 
this time set up at Embden, and another at Wes- 
sel.^ The history of the Puritans and Noncon- 
formists of Elizabeth's and the succeeding reigns 
are too well known to need a further description in 
this article. Those who wish to examine their 
history in detail will find ample material in Neal,® 
Prince,^' Cotton Mather,^' Winthrop,^" Hubbard ;^^ 
and, among the moderns, Punchard,^^ and especially 
Hanbury,^^ who has done a great work and a good 
one. Upham^^ gives a succinct account of the 
organization of Robinson's church. Prince ^"^ in- 
forms us that in 1592 a church was established in 
London ; that fifty-four of the church were impri- 
soned, some of them four or five years. They were 
beat with cudgels, and many died ; and Mr. Green- 
wood, their teacher, was executed, and the rest 
banished to Amsterdam. Their Confession, fre- 
quently referred to in this Dictionary, was first pub- 
lished in 1596. The present church in West Barn- 
stable, Mass., is supposed to be the oldest Inde- 
pendent Congregational church in the world. It 
was organized in 1616 in England, and removed 
first to Scituate, and afterwards to Barnstable.^ ^ 
Their confession of faith was that, frequently al- 
luded to in this work, as Jacob's Church Confes- 
sion. Eliot ^^ says: "The first Congregational 
church since the days of primitive Christianity was 
gathered in Geneva." — See Separation. 



94 CONGREGATIONALISM. 

» In Han. i. 10. ^ Punchard, Hist. lo9— 171. ^ ib. * Han. 
ii. 32—34. ^ Neal, Puritans, i. 83. ^ Punchard, Hist. 220—226. 
7 Ib. 222. « Punchard's Hist. 224, 225. ^ Puritans. »« Chro- 
nology. ^^ Magnalia. ^^ Journal. ^"^ Hist. Mass. ^* History. 
'^ Historical Memorials. ^^ Rat. Dis. 40. ^^ Chronology, 235. 
18 White, Early Hist. N. Eng. 260. ^^ Ecc. Hist. Mass. in Mass. 
Hist. Soc. Col. series i. vol. vii. 267. 

CONGREGATIONALISM, ichai .^— Heylyn ' says 
of Goodwin, Nye, Burroughs, Bridge, and Simp- 
son : " These men, affecting neither the severe dis- 
cipline of Presbytery, nor the licentiousness inci- 
dent to Brownism, embraced Robinson's model of 
church government in their congregations, consist- 
ing of a co-ordination of churches for their mutual 
comfort, and not a subordination of one to the 
other in the way of direction or command. Cotton, 
Chauncy, Hooker, and others, he alludes to, as 
advocating the same views in the New England 
churches. Punchard^ says of their principles: 
" They are found in the New Testament, and their 
expounders are all the standard writers of the de- 
nomination, such as Johnson, Ainsworth, Robinson, 
and Jacob, Thos. Hooker, and John Cotton, Owen, 
the Mathers, the Authors of the Cambridge Plat- 
form, &c. I might go further back to Penry and 
Greenwood and Barrowe." Eliot ^ enumerates the 
principal things in which Congregationalists differ 
from others : 1. The subject-matter of a church, — 
saints by calling. 2. Constitution of the visible 
church, — a covenant. 3. Quantity of it, — as 
many as can worship in one place. 4. A denial 
of any jurisdiction to which churches are subject. 
Hon. S. Haven ^ says : '' The essence of Congrega- 



1 



CONGREGATIONALISM. 95 

tionalism is, that all the power is in and proceeds 
from the individual church. She elects the candi- 
date and the council, and issues the letters missive ; 
she may arrest the proceedings in any stage of 
them ; and^ in the very last stage, is called to signify 
whether she abide her determination,^'^ Neal says:^ 
" Robinson was the first that beat out a middle 
track between Presbyterianism and Independency. 
He allowed the expediency of synods and councils 
for advice, but not for exercising any act of autho- 
rity or jurisdiction." — See next article. 

^ In Han. ii. 40. ^ View, 27. ^ Ecc. Hist. Mass. in Mass. 
Hist. Soc. Col. series 1. vol. ix. 13. ^ Proceedings of the First 
Church and Parish in Dedham, 64. ^ Hist. N. Eng. i. 73, 

CONGREGATIONALISM, epitome of principles 
of — Bartlett^ sums these up: Matter of a visible 
church, saints, Rom. i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2; xiv. 33; 
Phil. i. 1—7; Col. iii. 12; 1 Thess. v. 27. — Form, 
uniting together in one spiritual body politic, 1 Cor. 
x. 17 ; xii. 12, 20, 27 ; Ephes. ii. 22. — Quantity, as 
many as can meet together in one place. Acts ii. 1 ; 
v. 12; xiv. 27; 1 Cor. xiv. 23. — Power of govern- 
ment, in itself, Matt, xviii. 17 — 19 ; 1 Cor. v. 4 — 7, 
13 ; Acts XV. 22, 23 ; Rev. ii. 20. — Office and offi- 
cers, Ephes. iv. 11, 12; Rom. xii. 6, 7; 1 Cor. xii. 
28. — Choosing officers, by the whole church, Acts i. 
15 — 2G ; vi. 2, 3; xiv. 23. — Admission of members, 
the godly and their seed, Acts ii. 38, 39, &c. He 
goes on to give Scripture references in favor of 
many minor principles of Congregational order 
also. 



96 CONGREGATIONALISM. 

I condense Mitchell's enumeration ^ as follows 
Church, a society of believers united together by 
their own consent for worship and the ordinances 
of the gospel. — Church power, vested in the church 
itself, and not in its officers. — Church officers, mini- 
sters and deacons. — Churches, in a qualified sense 
independent; no church or church officers have au- 
thority to interfere with the faith or discipline of 
another church, but an erring church is open to the 
reproofs of others ; and, if the case requires, they 
may be disowned from the general communion. 
They do not allow the imposition of human creeds 
as tests of orthodoxy or terms of communion. 

Punch ard ^ states them thus : "The Scriptures 
are an infallible guide to church order and disci- 
pline. — A Christian church is a voluntary asso- 
ciation of persons professing repentance for sin and 
faith in Jesus Christ, united together by a solemn 
covenant for the worship of God and the celebration 
of religious ordinances. — This company should 
ordinarily consist of no more than can conveniently 
and statedly meet together for religious purposes. — 
To this assembly all executive ecclesiastical or 
church power is intrusted by Jesus Christ, the great 
Head of the Church." To this he adds a summary 
of their doctrines, viz.: — But two orders of church 
officers, bishops and deacons ; equality of all bi- 
shops ; councils have no juridical authority; church- 
es, though independent in worship and discipline, 
should hold themselves ready to give account to 
sister-churches of their faith and religious practices. 
He gives a similar epitome in his View.* 



CONGREGATIONALISM. 97 

Rev. J. Allyn, in his Plymouth Anniversary Ser- 
mon;^ Mr. Thacher, in his History of Plynriouth ^ 
(from Dr. Belknap) ; Prince, in his Chronology ; ^ 
and Upham, in his Ratio Disciplinse,^ give the prin- 
ciples of Robinson's church, corresponding v^^ith the 
above summaries. — See Goyi^rnment^ .Congrega- 
tional, 

1 Model in Han. iii. 246. ^ Guide, 37, 38. ^ Hist. 13, 14. 
4 Page 29. ^ Pages 13, 14. ^ p^ge 261. ^ Pages 91—93.. 
« Page 37. 

CONGREGATIONALISM by divine right. — 
Neal ^ says that the " Independents in the West- 
minster Assembly opposed the proposition of the 
divine right of Presbytery by advancing a counter 
divine right of their own scheme. . . . They main- 
tained that the church at Jerusalem was no larger 
than could meet in one place, Acts ii. 46 ; v. 12, 14 ; 
that, even when they were grown very large, the 
whole multitude came together to choose deacons, 
Acts vi. 2 — 5 ; and that, even after the general dis- 
persion, they all met in one place. Acts xv. 4, 22." 
This they advanced in opposition to the argument 
that there was a Presbyterial church there, consist- 
ing of several separate assemblies. Samuel Ma- 
ther^ maintains that the rejecting of Congrega- 
tionalism is the rejecting of the kingly authority of 
Christ, and giving the inheritance of our fathers to 
others. Increase Mather^ maintains that Congre- 
gational discipline injure divino, Henry Jacob* 
says : " Every particular ordinary congregation of 
faithful people in England is a true and proper 
9 



98 CONGREaATIONALISM. 

visible church, jure divino, — by right from God." 
His Church Confession* shows that there is no 
other way in which they can obey the divine com- 
mand, " Tell it to the church." Cambridge Plat- 
form ^ says : " A Congregational church is, by the 
institution of Cnrist, a part of the militant visible 
church." 

* Puritans, vol. ii. 9. ^ Apology, 143. ^ Preface to Disquisi- 
tion on Ecclesiastical Councils, iii. ^ Keasons for Reforming the 
Churches in England, in Han. i. 222. ^ Art. xxviii. in Han. i. 303. 
^ Chap. ii. sect. 6. 

CONGREGATIONALISM adopted by those who 
had no personal interest to serve. — The Indepen- 
dents in the Westminister Assembly say,^ that it 
was in their expatriation that they commenced in- 
quiring, " What were the first apostolic directions, 
pattern, and examples of those primitive churches 
recorded in the New Testament? We had, of all 
men, the greatest reason to be true to our own con- 
sciences in what we should embrace, seeing it was 
for our consciences we were deprived of whatsoever 
was dear to us." A notable instance occurred in 
the case of Mr. Higginson and his church in Salem« 
They, on their way to New England, set about 
establishing the most scriptural form of church go- 
vernment, now that they were under no necessity of 
conformity. They adopted a Congregational form, 
while they had great prejudices against their Ply- 
mouth neighbors, growing out of the current mis- 
representations of their tenets, till Dr. Fuller made 
the surprising discovery that the two churches, 
looking to the Scripture alone for a directory, were 



CONGREaATIONALISM. 99 

essentially on the same basis of church order and 
discipline.^ The exiles at Frankfort, and Mr. Ro- 
binson, with his church, also adopted essentially 
the same plan, without concert.^ 

In Han. ii. 222. ^ Hall's Puritans, 220—223. "^ lb. 74, 147. 

CONGREGATIONALISM has power to prevent 
and redress error. — It has been a standing accusa- 
tion that it has no such power ; but the charge is 
not admitted. SimpsoUj in his answer to Forbes, 
or Anatomist Anatomized,^ asks: " "What flaming 
sword is there in a classical Presbytery to keep 
men out of errors, which may not be in a Congre- 
gation ? " And says : " If the counsel and advice 
of other neighbor-churches be required, a congre- 
gation may have that as well, and perhaps sooner 
than a classis can. There have been as great 
defections, both of ministers and people, unto errors 
under Presbyterial government as under any other, 
as is clear in the Low Countries, where many minis- 
ters and people turned Arminians, Papists, Soci- 
nians, . . . and in other countries too." T. Welde, 
in his Reply to Rathband,^ says : " But we have 
had ' divisions ' amongst us. These ^ divisions ' were 
not caused by our church discipline, but by certain 
vile opinions brought us from England. When 
these opinions did /a//, our discipline stood; which 
shows that our discipline bred them not, but de- 
stroyed them." Burroughs, in his Irenicum,^ says : 
" There is no church government that holds forth 
more means to reduce from error than this doth. . . . 
If men will not conscientiously regard what is done 



100 CONGREGATIONALTSM. 

to reduce them from evil, there is no help within 
the church but an appeal to Christ." Punchard ^ 
shows at length, " that it presents the most effica- 
cious barrier to the inroads of heresy, false doctrine, 
and general corruption." — See Appeals ; Congre- 
gationalism, its prospects realized. 

In Han. ii. 245. ^ lb. 297. ^ lb. iii. 118. ^ View, 248—255. 

CONGREGATIONALISM fitted to all circum- 
stances of the clmrch, — Goodwin devotes the tenth 
chapter of his second book on Church Government 
to establish this point. His arguments may be 
thus epitomized. In answer to the theory, that, 
when whole nations turn Christian, the church gov- 
ernment should be conformed to the national, he 
shows " that God designed to redeem his church 
out of every nation;" that, if he had intended that 
there should have been national Christian churches, 
he would have given rules answerable, as he did to 
the Jewish church. He shows that Congregational 
churches are so constituted that they will suit all 
circumstances, in the beginning of the gospel, and 
the continuance of the gospel ; all places, whether 
villages or cities ; all conditions, whether of perse- 
cution or peace, whether pure or corrupt, whether 
reforming or to be reformed. He clearly shows, 
that there are many circumstances in which no 
other form of church government can be practised, 
as of outward persecution or isolated churches, 
churches deprived of officers, &c. — See Congrega- 
tional Churches, early history of; Congregation- 
alism has power to prevent error. 



CONGREaATIONALISM. 101 

CONGREGATIONALISM, whence its greatest 
danger. — Higginson and Hubbard, in their Testi- 
mony appended to Cambridge Platform, say : ^ 
" Concerning all sinful attempts to overturn the 
order of the gospel hitherto upheld in New Eng- 
land, and to spoil the glorious work of God, which 
we have seen him doing, with a series of remarka- 
ble providences, in erecting such Congregational 
churches in these ends of the earth, — they are 
doubtless displeasing to the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
walks in the midst of these golden candlesticks, and 
will prove bitterness in the latter end. . . . And one 
great point in the decay of the power of vital god- 
liness is men's growing weary of the Congrega- 
tional discipline, which is evidently calculated to 
maintain it." Punchard ^ mentions several causes 
of the decline of Congregationalism ; among which 
are the impression " that no efforts are required to 
protect and promote our excellent system of church 
government; . . . the dearth of modern books upon 
Congregationalism ; . . . a prevalent impression that 
Congregationalists have no well-defined and set- 
tled principles of church polity." He says : " Have 
these principles made New England an intel- 
lectual and moral garden, and shall we be told that 
they will not answer for the South and West?" 
"Whether with definite aim or drawing a bow at 
venture, he says : ^ " But if the professors in any 
of our theological seminaries are even apparently 
indifferent to our church polity, we need not be 
surprised to find their pupils really so." 

Page 68. ^ yiew, 23—25. ^ Page 25. 
9* 



102 CONGREGATIOXALISM. 

COXGREGATIOXALISM, duty to abide by.— 
Lobb. in his True Dissenter, says : ^ •• What can 
the breaking down of the Congregational bonds, 
changing the congregational offices, deposing their 
officers, and setting up new ones after the diocesan 
model, and governing by other laws and rules, be 
but a rejecting of Christ, a destroying of his govern- 
ment, and an open breach of our allegiance to 
him ?" Upham * says : '• And we may safely aver 
of such an edifice, erected with great labor and 
sanctified by prayer, and now rendered venerable 
by age, that it is not to be lightly esteemed, still 
less wantonly abandoned. But it becomes us, as 
in the days of Jeremiah, to stand in the way, and 
see and ask for the old paths, where is the good 
way, and walk therein, and we shall find rest for 
our souls.*' 

1 Page 129. ^ K?.t. Dis. 33. 

CONGRECtATLjXALISAI. its prospects foreseen. 
John Robinson, in his Justffication of Separation, 
in answer to Bernard,^ ^ays, in reply to his taunts 
concerniuor the " fewness of their numbers : " " Re- 
ligion is not always sown and reaped in one age. 
One soweth, and another reapeth. The many that 
are already gathered, by the mercy of God, into the 
kingdom of his Son Jesus Christ, and the nearness 
of many more through the whole land. — for the 
regions are white unto the harvest, — do promise, 
in less than a hundred years, if our sins and theirs 
make not us and them unworthy of this mercy, a 
very plentiful harvest," A foresight by no means 



CONSCIENCE. 103 

discouraging to those who, on forbidden " ground," 
now labor to establish the discipline which Christ 
has instituted. 

1 In Han. i. 209 ; and Works, ii. 66. 

CONGREGATIONALISM, its prospects realized. 
Hutchinson, in his History of Massachusetts, says : ^ 
" But, however this constitution may appear in 
theory, we shall seldom meet with an instance in 
which there has been so steady and so general 
an adherence to the principles on which it was 
founded, and so much harmony subsisting, not only 
in particular churches, but also between one church 
and another, for fifty years together." 

^ Vol. i. 374. — See further on the general subject of Congre- 
gationalism under the head Independency. 

CONSCIENCE.— Lord Brooke, in his Disquisi- 
tion#on Episcopacy,^ says : " No power on earth 
ought to force my practice any more than my judg- 
ment." He admits church power to expel him, 
but no farther. The conforming prelates required 
uniformity in all things, without respect to con- 
science : hence the conscientious suffered, and the 
unprincipled escaped. Burton, in his Rejoinder to 
Prynne, maintained^ that it is the greatest hypoc- 
risy in the world to pretend to follow what autho- 
rity commands, and yet man's own conscience 
thinks ought not to be done. Again : ^ " If I am 
bound to believe what they say who are in autho- 
rity, then my conscience is subject to error." S. 
Mather shows "* that decisions of councils should be 



104 CONSCIENCE. 

accepted when they are reasonable and scriptural 
only. R. Williams and his followers had carried 
the doctrine of liberty of conscience to such an 
extreme as to assert that no man should be cen- 
sured for any thing when he pleaded conscience. 
By this they found that they had stultified them- 
selves, when one Verrrin pleaded conscience for 
preventing his wife from meeting with them.^ John 
Cook^ says he (an Independent) thinks it better 
that Protestants, who are in a parish, if they are of 
three different opinions, should have three several 
meeting-places, than fight and live in perpetual 
jars with one another. Isaac Chauncy shows "^ that 
Christians ought not to subject their consciences to 
human will or laws. John Howe, in his Union 
among Protestants,^ appeals to those who most 
severely blame any for dissent, — if they (Dissenters) 
should declare, '^ It is truly against our consciences 
to communicate with you on your terms, yet, to 
please you, and avoid temporal inconvenience, we 
will do it," — whether we should not thereby make 
ourselves incapable of any communion, either with 
yoji or any others ? John Corbett ^ says : " When 
men's commands contradict the commands of God, 
it is God, and not man, that must have the pre- 
eminence. With us it is no controversy whether 
the king or conscience be the supreme .governor." 
The Savoy Confession ^° says : " God alone is Lord 
of conscience, and hath left it free from doctrines 
and commandments of men, which are in any thing 
contrary to his word, or not contained in it: so 
that to believe such doctrines or to obey such com- 



CONSECRATIONS. 105 

mands, out of conscience, is to betray true liberty 
of conscience; and the requiring of an inriplicit 
faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to 
destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also." 

iJn Han. ii. 122. ^ Page 19. ^ Page 48. ^ Apology, 5, 6. 
^ Winthrop's Journal, i. 283. ^ In Han. iii. 258. '^ Divine Inst. 
Cong. Churches, Preface, vi. ^ Works, 480. ^ Princip. and Pract. 
of Several Nonconformists, 9. ^^ Chap. xxi. in Upham's Rat. 
Dis. 288, 289. 

CONSECRATIONS discarded, — Con^eGYd^iion^ of 
churches, vestments, and implements, were among 
the things objected to by the Separation against 
the church of England. Neal ^ speaks of these as 
one great objection to Archbishop Laud's adminis- 
tration ; he proceeding even to consecrated knives 
to cut the sacramental bread. The Bishop of 
Norwich is represented^ as instituting the inquiry, 
in his primary articles of visitation, " whether the 
churchyards were consecrated ? " This was a ques- 
tion stoutly disputed on Archbishop Laud's trial.^ 
The managers objected to the consecrating of cha- 
pels, churchyards, altars, furniture, &c., as popish 
innovations. The s^rchbishop maintained the ne- 
cessity of the same, in order to render them holy 
things. The managers asserted, that "we. have 
no credible authority for consecrating churches for 
the first three hundred years.'^ Barrowe ^ inveighs 
against the " hallowed church and churchyard, 
and hallowed fonts, hallowed bells, organs, and 
musics." Ainsworth ^ is out upon such consecra- 
tions, saying that none of Jeroboam's priests could 
turn their hands to such powerful works as the 



106 CONSECRATIONS. 

advocates of " consecrated churches, chapels, minis- 
ters, bells, fonts, and churchyards, the relics of the 
idolatry of Rome, practised even by those who hate 
the whore and eat her flesh." Robinson, in his 
Apology,^ condemns " a holy place, as it is counted 
by most, consecrated either to God himself or to 
some saint." He does not object to a meeting- 
house, " provided the opinion of holiness be re- 
moved." In his Posthumous Treatise,'^ he says, in 
answer to an objector to worshipping in a conse- 
crated chm'ch : " I have no more religious use for 
the place in which I hear publicly, than in which I 
pray privately in my house or chamber." It ap- 
pears from the Magnalia,^ that Congregationalists 
had no consecrated meeting-houses, and that houses 
for public worship might be used for secular pur- 
poses, provided it were done in such a manner 
that no implicit affront was thereby offered to Him 
who was worshipped there. Of late, however, 
there seems to be a lamentable degeneracy among 
the descendants of the Puritans in this particular. 
We often hear expressions in dedicatory prayers of 
meeting-houses, which imply a* complete consecra- 
tion, even to denouncing any who shall henceforth 
put the building to any secular use. We have 
also consecrating prayers at ordinations and form- 
ing of churches; and even Mr. Mitchell, in his 
Guide,^ though he disclaims all reverence for mere 
wood and stone, treats of the inconsistency of dedi- 
cating a house to God, and then using it for secular 
purposes; quoting the words which were applied 
to the consecrated temple, " Ye shall reverence 



CONSOCIATIONS. 107 

my sanctuary " One of the Genevan Disputants ^^ 
says of the consecration of the emblems of the 
Lord's. Supper : " They are to be condemned who 
attribute some holiness to the signs ; and as for 
those who worship them, these we utterly detest as 
open idolaters." — See Dedications, Ceremonies. 

1 Puritans, i. 304. ^ lb. 325. ^ lb. 509, 510. ^ In Han. i. 60. 
s lb. 237, 238. ^ lb. 382, 383 ; and Works, iii. 59. ^ Han. i. 
457; and Works, iii. 374. ^ y^i^ ^^ 226. ^ p^ggg 216, 217. 
1° Page 164. 

CONSOCIATIOlSrS, origin of, — Trumbull in- 
forms us,^ that in 1659 the General Court of Con- 
necticut ordered a council, the decision whereof 
should be final. The General Court of Massachu- 
setts endeavored to establish the same thing, and 
so called the synod of 1662. These synods em- 
braced not only all the ministers of the colony 
whose legislature called them, but also certain spe- 
cified individuals of the other colonies, to ensure 
majorities. But they failed of such a majority in 
Connecticut, through this over-management. The 
Boston Synod was more successful, and recom- 
mended a consociation, having first, however, pre- 
mised that it should be shorn of its locks, by being 
stripped of juridical power. (See Consociations, 
poiver of.) The General Courts having attained 
their main ends in the decisions for the half-way 
covenant, and the churches generally and some of 
the principal ministers opposing, the matter of con- 
sociations slumbered till about the beginning of the 
eighteenth century, when Cotton Mather, having 



108 CONSOCIATIONS. 

converted his father in his dotage, led in a strenuous 
effort to establish a virtual consociation. Proposals 
were introduced into the Boston Association, and 
through them to the Massachusetts Convention; 
but they were successfully opposed by John Wise 
of Ipswich and others.^ The proposals, which may 
be seen in Wise's Quarrel of the Churches Es- 
poused,^ were rejected in Massachusetts, but were 
soon received in Connecticut, and from that time 
have formed the basis of their consociations. 
TrumouU^ gives a particular account of the intro- 
duction of the Saybrook Platform, and of the 
opposition which was made to it by some of the 
churches. President Stiles informs us,^ that in 
1662 Mr. Shepard drew up proposals for a conso- 
ciation to hear and give judgment in ecclesiastical 
controversies, but it was rejected; that it was 
ripened into a formal plan in 1700, and renewed in 
1705, but the opposition in the associations, and 
from the unassociated pastors, prevented its being 
recommended to the churches, " where it would 
have met with still greater opposition, through the 
spirit of liberty." Serious attempts have since been 
made to revive the subject, but without success. 

^ Hist. Conn. chap. xiii. ^ See Wise's Quarrel of the Churches 
Espoused, a T\'ork recommended by Samuel Moody, Peter Thacher, 
Joseph Sewall, Thomas Prince, John Webb, William Cooper, 
and Thomas Foxcroft. ^ it,. 77—80. ^ Hist. Conn. 507—514. 
* Conr. Sermon, 68, 69. 

CONSOCIATIONS, power of. — The Boston Sy- 
nod of 1662 * say : " Every church . . . has received 
from the Lord Jesus Christ full power and authority, 



CONSOCIATIONS. 109 

ecclesiastical within itself, regularly to administer 
all the ordinances of Christ, and is not under any 
other ecclesiastical jurisdiction whatever: . . . hence 
it follows, that consociations are not to hinder the 
exercise of his power, but by counsel from the word 
of God to direct and strengthen the same upon all 
just occasions." They go on to define the objects 
of consociations, and to recommend them to the 
churches. Samuel Mather shows ^ that a conso- 
ciation of churches was acknowledged by the early 
New England Congregationalists, in the sense of 
asking light not of government. "What is the autho- 
riry of the consociations in Connecticut, it seems, is 
still as ever an open question ; and Mitchell, follow- 
ing Stiles,^ maintains that it was designedly left 
ambiguous whether they should be juridical or 
merely advisory, because in that way only could 
they succeed in establishing it in the beginning. 
Dr. Stiles * shows that the first principles and the 
(evident) interlining of the Saybrook Platform 
clash ; the one giving unlimited power to the 
churches, and the other vesting controlling power 
in consociations. He argues that it is to be inter- 
preted in a sense subordinate to the first great de- 
clared general principle ; as that is, doubtless, the 
sense in which the adopting churches received it. 
He shows that the history of consociations, for the 
first forty years, proves that they were then only 
meant and received as advisory. He, hov^ever, 
clearly shows that there was a design in a part, 
and only a part, of the framers of the Saybrook 
Platform to make consociations juridical. It seems 

10 



110 CONSOCIATIONS. 

that that which is crooked cannot yet be made 
straight; some men are still wearying themselves 
to learn how the Saybrook Convention meant to 
define the power of consociations, which this ser- 
mon proves conclusively that they did not mean to 
define at all. — See Saybrook Platform. 

* Ans. 1 to Quest. 2. ^ Apology, 21. ^ Guide, 229, note, 
* Conv. Sermon, 72—80. 



CONSOCIATIONS, reasons urged for. — Increase 
Mather, in his Disquisition on Ecclesiastical Coun- 
cils, says : ^ *" That there should be such a conso- 
ciation, agreeing among themselves that no new 
churches shall be owned by them, or pastor ordained 
or deposed without them, ... is not only lawful, 
but absolutely necessary for the establishment of 
these churches." Yet he says : ^ All " Congrega- 
tionalists, of which Mr. Cotton is not the least, deny 
that synods have any authority of rule or jurisdic- 
tion." He quotes Norton, asserting that the power 
of synods is decisive, not authoritative. Mitchell 
enumerates six advantages of consociations, one 
of which is, they have, as he affirms, entirely (?) 
done away with the evil they were originally de- 
signed to remedy, — the calling of council against 
council. The Historical Account of Saybrook Plat- 
form ^ represents them as — " 1. The promotion of 
order and harmony among ministers and churches. 
2. The regular introduction of candidates into the 
ministry. 3. And especially the establishment of 
a board of appeal." Dr. Dwight* is loud in the 
praise of consociations, or courts of judicature, and 



3 



CONSOCIATIONS. IIX 

only laments that there is not " a still superior tri- 
bunal to receive appeals in cases where they are 
absolutely nepessary." In a word, the arguments 
for consociations are, like those for Presbytery and 
Hierarchy, all founded on the supposed benefits of 
unity and concert in all action, and would be un- 
answerable were the tribunal itself proved to be 
infallible. 

1 Page 34. ^ p^ges 28, 29. ^ Guide, 231, note. ^ in Congre- 
gational Order, 37. ^ Works, Serm. clxii. 

CONSOCIATIONS, objections to. — Congrega- 
tionalists, strictly so called, have uniformly objected 
to these with juridical powers. The framers of 
Saybrook Platform did not, at first, claim to be 
strict Congregationalists.^ Richard Mather and 
William Tompson^ assert, — and quote Dr. Ames's 
Cases of Conscience, book iv. chap. xxiv. sect. 17, — 
" That if the power to reprove scandals, and cast 
out the wicked, belongs to churches that have no 
neighbors, then it belongs to those who have them ; 
so consociation, or ' neighborhood of churches,' does 
not abridge the power of individual churches." 
Goodwin ^ shows that the consociation principle 
was not practised by the church at Corinth, because 
they did not call in the neighboring church of Cen- 
chrea in their case of difficulty, but excommuni- 
cated and restored, as having entire jurisdiction 
within themselves. Hooker is claimed as the great 
patron and projector of consociations ; but he ar- 
gues ^ that none of us deny a consociation by way 
of advice^ but it is a very different thing from a 



112 CONSOCIATIONS. 

ehurch of churches. John Wise says of the Pro- 
posals,^ that such a proposition out-bishops all the 
bishops, and out-popes the pope himself. Trum- 
bull^ frequently speaks of Consociationists in dis- 
tinction from the strict Congregationalists. So 
does the Appeal of Eastern Association of ^Yind- 
ham County, Conn. ; ^ as also President Stiles. 
He says, in his Convention Sermon : ^ " If a conso- 
ciated church is excommunicated (for denial of 
jurisdiction), it reverts to the state of a Congrega- 
tional one, and has communion with Congregational 
churches.'' In his Election Sermon,^ he spealis of 
the Congregational^ the Consociated^ and the Presby- 
terian churches. Davenport ^° recommends a con- 
sociation for mutual advice only. Burton says : ^^ 
We hold communion or consociation of churches 
for counsel in doubts and comfort in distress, but 
deny any such combination of churches as whereby 
the liberty of any particular church is taken away. 
President Stiles has another objection to Connecti- 
cut consociationism : ^^ it makes " a majority of the 
pastors, as well as of the consociation, necessary to 
pass a valid act," so that "the legs of the lame 
are not equal." Increase Mather, in his Disquisi- 
tion on Ecclesiastical Councils (Preface), deprecates 
such a monopoly of power. Gov. Wolcott also 
wrote an Answer to ]Mi-. Robert, in which he com- 
pared the Cambridge and Saybrook Platforms, and 
argues the latter to be inconsistent with the piin- 
ciples of toleration and religious freedom.^^ Cotton 
Mather, though the priniiun inohile of the original 
movement, retracts his zeal for the necessity of 



COUNCILS. 113 

consociations in his Ratio Disciplinse/^ saying ; 
" It may be the prudent servants of God had it (the 
confusion which was feared for want of consocia- 
tion) more in fear than there was any real need of 
. . . The churches have not, in fact, seen much of 
this confusion." A frank and very important con- 
fession from such a man, vanquished as he had 
been twenty-one years before. — See Councils, 
Synods, Power. See Punchard's View, 103 — 113 , 
Upham's Rat. Dis. 191—195. 

^ Trumbun's Hist. Conn. i. 486, 487. ** Ans. to Herle, in Han. 
IL 172, 173. 3 Church Gov. 71, 72. ^ Survey, part i. 87. * Page 
148. 6 Hist. Conn. chap. xiii. xix. '^ Page 19. ^ Page 88. ^ Page 
57. ^" Apologetical Reply, 230. " Ans. to Prynne, in Han. ii. 
394. ^2 Convention Serm. 71. " Eliot, Biog. Diet. 510. ^^ Page 
183, 184. 

CONTUMACY. — Cotton Mather says : ' " If the 
person do out of contempt refuse to make his ap- 
pearance, the pastor moves the church to concur 
(after some further exercise of forbearance, if in 
their lenity they think necessary) in his excommu- 
nication." This is believed to be the universal 
sentiment on this point ; the delinquent refuses to 
hear the church. Care should, however, be taken 
to be sure that the absence is not providential, in- 
voluntary, or necessary. 

i Rat. Dis. 145. 

COUNCILS, earhj, — Increase Mather informs 

us ^ that the first, after the apostolic, assembled A.D. 

180, and condemned the heresy of Montanus. Also, 

that the second Ephesian synod, A.D. 450, compelled 

10* 



114 COUNCILS. 

their members by torture to submit to the decrees of 
the majority. T. Hooker^ declares that there was 
no general council after our Saviour by the space 
of three hundred years. In the view of Congrega- 
tionalists, it had been well if such councils had 
never assembled again. Owen, in his Nature of 
Schism,^ says : '' I do not know of any thing, which 
is extant, bearing clearer witness of the degeneracy 
of the Christian religion, . . . than the stories of the 
acts and law^s of councils and synods." He shows 
that there neither has been nor can be any proper 
general council representing the whole church, since 
the apostles. Punchard ^ allades to some of the 
steps by vv^hich these general councils corrupted the 
early churches. 

^ Disquisition on Ecc, Councils, 3, 4. ^ Survey, part i. 238. 
^ In Han. iii. 440. ^ Hist. Cong. 21. 

COUNCILS, proper objects of, — Thomas Good- 
win says ^ of the church at Antioch : " They did 
not, ... as wanting power, appeal ... as to a court 
of judicature, . . . but only sent for advice and coun- 
sel in a difficult case." Richard Mather^ represents 
the objects of councils to be "to communicate light, 
not for the imperious binding of the church to rest 
in their dictates, but by propounding their grounds 
from the Scriptures." He shows ^ that churches 
are independent, but "confederate, not to use or 
exercise their power, but with mutual communion 
one asking counsel of the other. . . . To bind them 
to do no weighty thing without counsel . . . were to 
bind them to be imperfect. • . . The decree of a 



COUI^CILS. 115 

COUNCIL HATH SO MUCH FORCE AS THERE IS FORCE IN 

THE REASON OF IT." PuHchard * shows that these 
were also the opinions of John Robinson. Rapin ^ 
affirms that the Independents in the Westminster 
Assembly difTered from the other reformed churches 
only about the jurisdiction of classes, synods, and 
convocations, and the point of liberty of conscience. 
Ains worth, in his reply- to Paget,^ shows that, as 
many godly Christians are not able to perform the 
work of examining candidates for church officers, 
they call in the council of other churches; but he 
denies the necessity of such councils to ordina- 
tion. Davenport, in his Power of Congregational 
Churches,"^ says : " Where a church \Yants light, 
she should send for counsel, but preserve the power 
entirely in her own hands, where Christ has placed 
it." Welde, in his reply to Rathband, says : ^ "If 
the sufficiency of such men as they intend to call 
into office be not ivell knoivn, then they are to call 
in the help and assistance of the elders of other 
churches, to survey their abilities, and inform them 
thereon." Rathband having insinuated that they 
arrogated to ordain without the concurrent autho- 
rity of other churches or church officers, Welde 
replies : ^ " Authority is either coercive or from 
rule : the former we use not, for want of Scnpture 
ground ; the latter we improve upon all occasions, 
by caUing in other churches, and hold ourselves 
bound to follow their counsel, so far as it is founded 
on the ivord of God,^^ Bartlett^*^ embraces, in his 
Compendium, " craving help and assistance of 
neighbor churches, in difficult cases, by way of 



116 COUNCILS. 

advice and counsel." John Cotton" shows that 
churches do not choose officers nor depose them 
without the approbation of other churches, because 
in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. 
He shows ^^ that where a case is doubtful, and a 
minority dissent, they call for light from other 
churches. Hubbard ^^ gives an instance of such a 
council "n Dorchester, in 1640, and its happy re- 
sults. Mr. Haven ^^ says: " The power of councils 
is merely advisory, nor can they volunteer that ser- 
vice. They cannot come till they are asked, nor 
extend their inquiries beyond the point submitted ; 
and their advjce may be regarded or not, as may 
seem best to the party asking." 

The Petitioners of the Church and Town of Wo- 
burn to the General Court ^^ " do not deny counsel 
in difficult cases," but maintain that it is not al- 
ways difficult to determine whether a man may 
preach. " A council can bind no farther than they 
can make it fasten by convicting demonstration." 
Dr. Osgood ^^ says, the decree at Antioch, " passed 
in the name of the Holy Ghost, was written by men 
confessedly inspired, and did but conffi'm what in- 
spired men had taught before." He is astonished 
that this should be made, the foundation of so many 
councils and canons. 

Ch. Gov. 85. 2 Ch. Gov. 62. ^ lb. 65, 66. -* Hist. 359, 360. 
» In Neal, Puritans, i. 493. « In Han. i. 346. ^ Jb. ii. 65. « Jb. 
316. 9 lb. 317. ^^ lb. iii. 246. " Way of the Churches, 45. 
12 lb. 96. 13 Hist. Mass. 278. ^^ Dedham Con. 55. ** In Mass. 
Hist. Soc. Col. Serm. iii. vol. i. page 40. ""^ Dudlean Lect. 14. 



COUNCILS. 117 

COUNCILSj have they authority to ordain and de- 
pose ? — Richard Mather ^ affirms that it is " the 
practice to call in the aid of other churches ; but it 
is not lawful nor convenient to call in such assist- 
ance by way of authority or power of ministers, or 
of other churches." Cotton ^ maintains that " ordi- 
nation is a work of church power," and that " the 
power of the keys is a liberty purchased to the 
church by the blood of Christ," and should not be 
parted wuth at a less price. He inquires also. On 
what ground shall presbyters censure a brother that 
is a member of another church ? Clemens Roma- 
nus ^ complains of the unworthy course of the 
Corinthian church, but never of their having exer- 
cised their power without a council. Goodwin "^ 
shows that the bringing in new ministers should be 
with the privity and knowledge of neighbor minis- 
ters and churches ; " but that will not arise to this, 
that the neighbor ministers have the power of ordi- 
nation, the power of deposition, ot that they have 
a negative vote, by way of jurisdiction, to which 
the church must, by virtue of an institution, submit. 
... It must be remembered, that giving the right 
hand of fellowship is not giving the right hand of 
AUTHORITY, to choose them elders or to lay hands 
upon them." Dr. H. Ainsworth^ acknowledges the 
advice of councils good and lawful, but not to do 
those actions which are peculiar to any church to 
do for itself. The General Court of Massachusetts 
undertook to interfere and make councils neces- 
sary to ordination in 1651, but never succeeded.^ 
Prince ^ informs us that the church in Salcni sent to 



118 COUNCILS. 

that in Plymouth to attend Mr. F. Higginson's 
ordination, " that they niight have the approbation 
and concurrence, if not the dh'ection and assistance, 
of the other." Rev. C. W. Upham, in his Appen- 
dix to Dedication Sermon,^ says : " They expressly 
declared that the church in Plymouth should not 
claim any jurisdiction over the church in Salem ; 
and, further, that the authority of ordination should 
not exist in the clergy, but should depend on the 
free election of the members of the church." The 
same is corroborated in Eliot's Biog. Diet. p. 252, 
art. " F. Higginson," and elsewhere. Dr. Emmons ^ 
shows that a council can. neither put a pastor into 
his office, nor put him out of it, without the con- 
sent of the church. 

1 Ch. Gov. 41. - Way of the Churches, 50. ^ Epistle to the 
Corinthians, 24, 25. ^ Ch. Gov. 229. ^ Answer to Pa^et, in Han. 
i. 344. 6 Hubbard's Hist. Mass. 550. ' Chronology, 190. ^ Page 
52. 9 Vol. V. 448—451. 

COUNCILS, have they authority to reverse deci- 
sions ? — Richard Mather ^ says : " No ecclesiastical 
power on earth can reverse or disannul church cen- 
sure." And,^ " Councils are to give light, not by 
imperious binding of the chui ch to rest in their dic- 
tates^ but by propounding their grounds from the 
Scriptures. And,^^' The sentence of a council is 
of itself, only advice^ . . . not, of itself, authority nor 
necessity.^'' The Leyden church believed ^ that no 
church or church officers have any power whatever 
over other churches or church officers. T. Goodwin 
maintains the same : he says,^ " The church at 
Corinth had an entke judicature within itself, not 



COUNCILS, 119 

depending upon the advice of any for sentence." Dr. 
Emmons ^ says : " Councils, presbyteries, synods, 
and general assemblies, are of mere human device, 
and have no authority over individual churches. It 
is at their option whether they will ask counsel ; 
and, if they do ask it, their advice is only advisory, 
and they have a right to accept or reject." 

1 Ch. Gov. 47. 2 lb. 62. » lb. 66. ^ Punchard, Hist. 362. 
* Ch. Gov. 71. 6 Vol. V. 450. 

COUNCILS, have they any juridical power ? — The 
Independents in the Westminster Assembly main- 
tain ' that even the appeal of the church at Antioch 
was only for advice, and not for a judicial deter- 
mination. Samuel Mather^ says that the churches 
are not obliged to acknowledge the authority of 
councils for their direction. He shows ^ that synods 
have no juridical power ; that they are persuasive, 
and not compulsive; and "the churches are still 
free to accept or reject their advice." He moreover 
informs us,^ that some, in his day, wanted a juridical 
power; but he argues at length to show that the 
power which Christ has given to his churches is 
sacred ; and concludes ^ that churches ought to call 
councils, when they want light or peace, and, if they 
see meet.) conform to the same. John Wise, in his 
Vindication,^ and through his whole book, shows 
that a council has only consultative and not juridi- 
cal power. He wrote the book expressly to meet 
the proposals to establish such a power. In John 
White's Lamentations,'^ he censures a council 
which tried to induce the parties to agree to ac- 



120 COUNCILS. 

quiesce in their decisions before they heard the 
case, — thus ensnaring their consciences. He cen- 
sures ^ also the councils which usurped the power 
of judgment, and also of admonition, TrumbulP 
asserts that it was the opinion of the principal di- 
vines, who settled New England and Connecticut, 
that determinations of councils were to be received 
^yith reverence, but that they had no juridical 
power. Hooker ^° concludes his argument on this 
point by saying : The juridical power of councils is, 
" I fear, an invention of man." In Norton's Cate- 
chism, question — "What is the power of a coun- 
cil ? " the answer is — " To declare truth, not to exer- 
cise authority." Dr. Osgood ^^ says: "No number 
of churches assembled by their representatives, 
have, from Christ or his apostles, the least authority 
to decide any matters of controversy, either of faith 
or discipline." From the Answer to the Hamp- 
shire Narrative,^^ it seems that the association ar- 
gued that "to ask advice is to ask to be directed." 
The council reply that " it is not then asking to 
be advised, but to be commanded." Dr. Stiles ^^ 
says : " Churches reserve to themselves to refuse or 
accept the advice of council : . . . Congregational 
churches universaUfj hold a negative on the result 
of council. . . . The decision of council is of no force, 
till received and ratified by the inviting church, nor 
does it render that church obnoxious to community 
if ghe recedes from advice of council." He main- 
tains that Congregational councils are advisory 
only, and our churches are absolutely free from 
foreign jurisdiction. He shows that juridical power 



COUNCILS. 121 

in councils clashes with the complete power of the 
churches, and that the synod of 1662 declared that 
a particular church is not under any other ecclesias- 
tical jurisdiction whatever; that ^^ the "notions'' 
of the framers of the Cambridge Platform were, 
" that, in cases of difficulty, councils assembled on 
invitation, not to decide and determine authorita- 
tively^ but to advise the church how to decide and 
determine it; and,^^ "however fond they were of 
the power of presbyteries in the church, they were 
very opposite to the power of classes, councils, and 
synods, out of the church ; " that Cotton and Da- 
venport wrote largely against these in their Answer 
to Paget ; and that churches only, and not the advi- 
sory synods, could perfect the sentence of non- 
communion. He says ^^ that " no church was here- 
ticated for not receiving the result of synod." That 
" councils are to advise what is to be done, and 
churches to do what is to be done," was the opinion 
of Hooker, Chauncy, Davenport, and Oakes. He 
quotes especially from Hooker's Survey, part iv. 
page 47, * " The council's determination takes 
place, not because they concluded so, but because 
the churches approve of what they determined." 
Neal^^ says, Robinson allowed of councils for ad- 
vice, but " not for exercising authority or jurisdic- 
tion." Bliss, in his History of Rehoboth,^*^ shows 
that the parties bound themselves beforehand to 
abide the result of council relative to the dismission 
of Mr. Carnes in 1763. This is the earliest instance 
which I have noticed, save the cases to which John 

* Some falsely ascribe the fourth part of this work to Cotton. 
11 



1^2 COUNCILS. 

White alludes in his Lamentations in Wise's Quar- 
rel, page 165. — See Laws of New England; 
Churches discipline each other ^ but not juridically ; 
Councils, proper objects of; Consociations ; Sy- 
nods. 

^In Neal's Puritans, ii. 9. ^ Apology, 6. ^ lb. 118. ^ ib. 
122—129. 5 Page 133. ^ Page 45. ^ page 165. « Page 167. 
9 Hist. Conn. i. 297. ^^ Survey, part i. 121. ^^ Dudlean Lect. 15. 
^2 Pages 27— 35. ^^ Convention Sermon, 46— 48. ^^lh.6^, ^^ lb. 
60. 1^' lb. 62. ^7 N. Eng. i. 73. ^^ Page 209. 

COUNCILS, of whom composed, — John Robin- 
son^ maintained, "that it was not orderly that the 
bodies of churches should be sent to for counsel, 
but some chief persons. Power and authority is in 
the body for election and censures, but counsel for 
direction in all difficult cases in some few." Ains- 
worth, in his Answer to Clyfton,^ replies to an 
objection to sending to the church in Leyden, be- 
cause "they were in the same case," by saying, 
" The same objection could have been brought by 
the church in Antioch against the church in Jeru- 
salem." The Independents *in the Westminster 
Assembly^ argued that a council should not be 
selected by location, but by agreement of the trou- 
bled church or opposing parties. Increase Mather ^ 
says : " For councils to take it upon them to deter- 
mine, without elders and messengers from the 
churches, is prelatical, even though the church de- 
clares that they will not send them." And* he 
asserts that it belongs not to ministers to direct to 
whom or to what churches aggrieved persons shall 
send for counsel. He shows ^ that ministers sit in 



COUNCILS. 123 

council only by virtue of delegation from their 
churches. In his Order of the Churches of New- 
England/ he shows, at length, that the brethren 
as well as pastors have a right to sit in councils. 
Samuel Mather ^ informs us, that, in the synod of 
1679, certain pastors were not allowed to sit till they 
had lay delegates to sit with them. John Wise ^ 
maintains that ministers may be left out of the 
choice of delegates to councils, if so their churches 
will. From Balch's Vindication of the Second 
Church in Bradford, it appears ^^ that the church, 
about 1746, sent to the ministers of one association 
with their churches to constitute a council. The 
letter of the Boston ministers to the distressed 
churches in Connecticut, at the time of the Episco- 
pal defection, recommends a council, impartial, and 
not confined to the vicinity. Mr. Davenport ^^ was 
invited to sit with the synod at Cambridge. Up- 
ham, in his Ratio Disciplinse,^^ affirms that " there 
does not appear to be any Congregational authority 
whatever for the particular church that assembles 
the council to invite individuals to sit and act in 
the same, in their own persons and right, and not 
as the representatives of sister-churches." If this is 
so, and I find nothing either in principle or ancient 
precedent to contradict it (unless the case of Mr. 
Davenport above be taken as an exception),* then, 
if the services of ex-pastors or others are specially 
needed on councils, applications should be made to 
the churches of which they are members. It may 
be asked. If councils are merely advisory, why not 
* See references to Trumbull, in art. Consociations, origin of. 



124 COUNCILS. 

leave the parties to counsel with whom they choose ? 
It is answered, they have a right to counsel with 
whom they choose for mere advice ; but, if it be 
concerning a matter involving church fellowship and 
mutual church help, then there are certain points 
of propriety to be regarded in choosing a council 
which is truly ecclesiastical. Increase Mather ^^ 
strenuously maintains that it is not necessary or 
proper to confine the parties to the nearest churches, 
but that this is an infringement of their liberty. 
Mitchell, in his Guide,^^ says they are usually from 
the same neighborhood, but sometimes from places 
more remote. Cotton Mather ^^ shows that, in his 
time, there was usually more than one delegate sent 
firom a church, — the pastor nominating one or 
more, and the church adding to them at their elec- 
tion. From one to six delegates ^^ were chosen 
from each church to a council in Dorchester about 
1794. Rev. Dr. Fiske, of New Braintree, informs 
the compiler, that in his early days the churches 
resented being limited in the number of delegates 
they were requested to send to a council. The 
Boston Synod of 1662 say^"^ that they should be 
called " with special reference to those churches 
which by providence are planted in a convenient 
vicinity, though with liberty^ reserved ivithout offence^ 
to make use of others, as the nature of the case, or 
the advantage of opportunity, may lead thereunto." 
— See Councils, pastors sit in, by virtue of their 
de legation ; De le g ate s . 

1 In Punchard's Hist. 360 ; and Han. i. 448 ; and Works, iiL 
382. ' Han. i. 254. ^ ib. u. 508. ^ Dig. on Ecc. Councils, Preface. 



COUNCILS. 125 

5 lb. 33. « lb. 13—26. ^ Pages 83—90. » Apology, 117. « Quar. 
of the Churches Esp. 144. ^^ Page 22. ^^ Eliot, Biog. Diet. 149. 
12 Pages 126, 127. " Disquisition, 31. ^^ p^gg 226. ^^ j^^t. Dis. 
159, 160. ^^ Votes of the Church and Ecc. Council in Dorchester, 
21,22. 17 Page 116. ' 

COUNCILS, how chosen. — In the work entitled 
Congregationalism as contained in the Scriptures 
and explained by the Platform, it is asserted that a 
council should be chosen, one half by each party 
separate, and not in meeting of the whole body, 
which would give the minority no voice in the selec- 
tion. The answer to the Hampshire Narrative ^ 
says : " It is a universal custom for the church to 
agree with the candidate what churches shall con- 
stitute the council." So Upham.^ 

1 Page 39. ^ Rat. Dis. 189. 

COUNCILS, how convened? — Mitchell* describes 
the method now practised, by letters missive, ask- 
ing for a pastor and delegate; a point too well 
understood to need a particular illustration. C. 
Mather^ also describes the usual method in his 
time, varying from the present practice only in the 
number of delegates and the mode of their, nomi- 
nation. — See Councils, of whom composed ? 
1 Guide, 227. ^ Rat. Dis. 159, 160. 

COUNCILS, occasions of, — Mitchell * enume- 
rates these as follows, viz. : Ordination, dismission, 
and deposition of ministers ; troublesome cases of 
discipline ; dissensions or other difficulties in a 
church, which the church itself is unable or indis- 
11* 



126 COUNCILS. 

posed to settle ; and, in general, all those occasions 
which require the advice or concurrent action of 
more churches than one. The ancient writers 
usually described the occasions of councils in such 
general terms as these, — Where a church wants 
either light or peace. See Upham, Rat. Dis. 188, 
189; "and Punchard's View, 114. — See Councils, 
proper objects of. 

1 Guide, 226. 

COUNCILS, have pastors a negative vote in ? — 
This question is discussed at length in Increase 
Mather's Disquisition ; ^ and, though he had then 
gone over to favor Consociationism, he was still 
" vehement in the negative." — See Consociations, 
objections to. 

* Pages 7—13. 

COUNCILS, pastors sit in, by virtue of their de- 
legation, and not as pastors. — Increase Mather ^ 
strenuously maintains this ground, and hence ar- 
gues that they have no negative voice, but are only 
equal with other delegates of the churches. He 
argues the point at length, showing that, as their 
power is only consultative, there is no good reason 
why judicious laymen should not have as great a 
voice as pastors. The opposite of this doctrine 
had been set up about this time by the authors of 
the proposals for a consociation.^ In his Order of 
the Gospel Justified,^ Dr. Mather says : " Not their 
office, but their delegation, gives them power to be 
members of synods ; . . . none ought to be admitted 



COUNCILS. 127 

to such assemblies but those whom the churches 
shall send. . . . So, in ecclesiastical councils, not 
only the officers but others may receive a commis- 
sion from the churches, and then have equal power 
with the pastor." Upham ^ says there does not 
appear to be any congregational authority for in- 
viting persons to sit in council by their own right, 
and not as delegates of councils. — See Dele- 
gates. 

^ Disquisition, 13 — 26. ^ Wise's Quarrel of the Churches Es- 
poused, 159. 3 Page 86. ^ Kat. Dis. sect. 84. 

COUNCILS,, ex parte, — Cotton Mather says : ' 
" The churches of New England have a remedy 
for oppression, that is to say, a council. If the 
church refuse to call a council, the aggrieved may 
do it without them, only informing them what 
he does." He describes the mode of procedure of 
such a council,^ and says : " If they find the person 
to have suffered palpable injury, they endeavor to 
convince the church. If the church refuse, they 
order that the person be admitted to some other 
church in the neighborhood, and so to communion 
with them all.*' He says ^ that churches thus per- 
sisting run a risk of a withdrawal of fellowship, by 
a ratification by the churches which sent their dele- 
gates to the council. He asserts, moreover,^ that 
a council may be called by a neighbor-church, 
applied to by the aggrieved party. S. Mather* 
informs us that this calling a council by another 
church, on application of the aggrieved, was the 
only way known in his day in which testimony 



128 



COYEirASiT 



:- lost mal-adnimistiatioii in 

See TJpham's Bat IHs. 

. View. 112, 266; Bacon's 

;— 145. 



COUXCIl- 
wishes to see the i . 
of this question, 5. 
Disquisition on Ec 



— Whoever 
r dGurmative 
^lather's. 
;. :„ : -i^hout 



COUNCILS /i-iif '/ho power to enforce areeds. — 

Th:? := :^e : : ::^7ra:ed iii Warts's Christian Chnich, 

:.: ■:- C:.:::-r:e Works, vol. iii. 



COUXCnS expire when they haze given tie i 
for which they were caUedL — lion. S. Haven, Pro- 
ceedings of Fiist Chnrdi and Parish in Dedham, 
52. Srr T Fiske case in Salem, onder the head 
ck other, for an early innova- 
- Congregational rule. Up- 
lo7. represents le-assem- 
biing, or doing oiiir f— in that for which 

' V Trere called, - with Congie- 

^ . :d principlerr. — F le subject of 






^Yxo: 



COYEXAXC, what:— T 
early Congregational 
stitntes a church. 



an. 



U^lA k^- ^Uf 



nber of a 



Christian church. They j^e^a iha,i ii ought to be 



COVENANT. 129 

explicit, but might be implied. (See Church, 
what constitutes ?) The advocates both of a na- 
tional and a catholic visible church accused the 
Congregationalists of unwarrantable strictness on 
this point. Thomas Goodwin, in his Letters to 
John Goodwin, says : ^ '^ The church covenant is no 
more with us than this, — an agreement and reso- 
lution, professed with promise to walk in all those 
ways pertaining to this fellowship, so far as they 
shall be revealed to them in the gospel. Thus 
briefly and indefinitely and implicitly, and in such 
like words and no other, do we apply ourselves to 
men's consciences, not obtruding upon them the 
mention of any one particular before or in admis- 
sion, . . . leaving their spirits free to the entertain- 
ment of the light that shines or shall shine on them 
and us out of the word." Daniel Buck, a member 
of the church organized in London in 1592, de- 
clared,^ on his arraignment before three magistrates, 
that when he came into the congregation " he 
made this protestation, that he would walk with the 
rest of the congregation, so long as they would 
walk in the way of the Lord, and as far as might be 
warranted by the word of God." Burton, in his 
Rejoinder to Prynne's Answer concerning the 
Twelve Considerable Questions,^ maintains that it 
is enough that there be a covenant either expressed 
or implied. Cotton^ shows that a covenant may 
be '• by silent consent. Gen. xvii. 2 ; by express 
words, Ex. xix. 8 ; or by writing and sealing, Neh. 
ix. 38." Cotton Mather says,^ that, in an Apology 
of Justin Martyr, we find Christians, who were ad- 



130 COVENANT. 

mitted into church fellowship, agreeing in a resolu- 
tion to conform in all things to the word of God ; 
which seems to be as truly a church covenant as 
any in the churches of New England. In the or- 
ganization of the Salem Church, Mr. Higginson 
drew up a covenant* and confession of faith; and 
those who were afterward admitted were required 
"to enter into alike covenant-engagement as to the 
substance^ but the manner was to be so ordered by 
the elders as to be most conducive to the end, 
respect being always had by them to the liberty and 
ability of the person." ^ Congregationalism as con- 
tained in the Scriptures, &c.^ quotes from Hooker's 
Survey, part. i. 46 : " This covenant may be either 
explicit or implicit ; explicit where there is a formal 
covenant, implicit where they practise without a 
verbal written formal covenant." This covenant, 
he maintains, is for life as essentially as is the 
marriage-covenant. Prince^ quotes Gov. Bradford : 
" Upon which these people shake off their antichris- 
tian bondage, and, as the Lord's free people, join 
themselves by covenant in a church state, to walk 
in all his ways, made known or to be made known to 
them^ according to their best endeavors, whatever it 
cost them." Thus it seems that covenants were 
originally the basis of Congregational church orga- 
nizations, and that with regard to the substance^ and 
not the words of them. Many of the old writers, 
particularly Goodwin, show that a covenant, ex- 
pressed or implied, is absolutely necessary to the 
establishment of any society whatever. Formulas 
* It is given in Neal's Puritans, i. 300. 



CREEDS. 131 

of doctrine, as a test of admission, were of much 
later origin, as will appear under the next article. 
A laconic covenant of the ancient Independerft 
Church in Wattesfield, Suffolk, may be found in 
Neal's Puritans, ii. 179, note. — Further illustrations 
of the general subject may also be found in Han- 
bury, i. 85 ; ii. 309—314 ; iii. 76. 

1 Page 44. ^ in Punchard's Hist. 277, 278. ^ Page 25. ^ ^gy 
of the Churches, 3. ^ Rat. Dis. 12. ^ Hubbard's Hist. Mass. 119, 
120. '^ Pages 7, 8. » Chronology, 4. 

CREEDS, should they be a binding rule of faith 
and practice^ and a test for admission to the churches ? 
Richard Mather ^ says : " They may have a platform 
by way of profession of their faith, but not a bind- 
ing rule of faith and practice. ... If so, then they 
ensnare men attending more to the form of doc- 
trine delivered from the authority of the church . . . 
than to the examining thereof according to the 
Scriptures." Required subscription was the parent 
of English Independency. Burton, in his Rejoin- 
der to Prynne's Reply to his Answer to Twelve 
Considerable Questions, says:^ "It is the greatest 
possible tyranny over men's souls to make other 
men's judgments the rale of my conscience." Tho- 
mas Goodwin, in his letter to John Goodwin,^ is 
equally explicit on this point:* so is Hubbard, in 
his History of Massachusetts.^! Neal, in his Puri- 
tans,^ represents the chief error of the Brownists to 
be their unchurching all other churches. Gibbon, 
in his Decline and Fall,^ says the churches of the 

* See extract from this letter in the preceding article, t See ib. 



132 GREEDS. 

Roman empire " were united only by the ties of 
faith and charity.-' Hanbury * says of the Confes- 
sion of the Low Couniary Exiles, it was transmitted 
to the authorities at home, not with " any expecta- 
tion that it should be erected into a standard. K 
they entertained, however, any such modes of fixing 
religious belief, time has shown their utter futility 
for that purpose. . . . The unadulterated word of 
Grod shall stand for ever." J. Cotton, in his An- 
swer to Ball, says:® " When a church is suspected 
and slandered with corrupt and unsound doctrine, 
they have a call from God to set forth a public 
confession of their faith ; but to prescribe the same 
as the confession of faith of that church to their 
posterity, or the prescribed confession of faith of 
one church to be a form and pattern unto others, 
sad experience has showed what a snare it has 
been to both.'' Even Herle, in his controversy 
with Mather and Tompson,^ disclaims " such a fan 
to purge the religious floor with, and setting the 
SUN BY THE DIAL.*' The Apologcrical Narrarive of 
the Independents in the Westminster Assembly ^^ 
asserts that their rules of admission were such *• as 
would take in any member of Christ. We took 
measure of no man's holiness by his opinions, whe- 
ther concurring with us or adverse from us." Baillie, 
in his Letters to Spang, says:" "Thomas Good- 
win, at that meeting, declared that he cannot refuse 
to be members, nor censure when members, any for 
Anabaptism. Lutheranism. or any errors which are 
not fundamental and maintained against know- 
ledge." The same principles axe advanced by Cot- 



CREEDS. 133 

ton, in his Holiness of Church Menibers;'^ in the 
preface to the Savoy Confession ; ^^ and by the Con- 
gregational Union of England and Wales/^ as late 
as the year 1833. Lord King ^^ gives various forms 
of ancient creeds, and says they were handed down 
from father to son, not in the precise words, but 
varying, and never repeated in the same words, 
even by the same father. John Owen ^^ says : " We 
will never deny the communion to any person whose 
duty it is to desire 4t." Samuel Mather shows ^^ 
that all Christians ought to be admitted to any of 
Christ's churches. Cotton Mather says:^^ *' The 
churches of New England make only vital piety 
the terms of communion among them ; and they 
all, with delight, see godly Congregationalists, Pres- 
byterians, Episcopalians, Anti-pedobaptists, and 
Lutherans, all members of the same churches^ and 
sitting together without offence in the same holy 
mountain, at the same holy table." Speaking of 
the use then made of creeds, he says^^ of candi- 
dates for admission : " To the relation of his reli- 
gious experience is added either a confession of 
faith of the person's own composing, or a briefer 
intimation of what publicly-received confession he 
chooses to adhere to." He says:^° "It is the de- 
sign of these churches to make the terms of com- 
munion run as parallel as may be with the terms 
of salvation. A charitable consideration of nothing 
but true piety, in admitting to evangelical privileges, 
is a glory which the churches of New England 
would lay claim to." Dr. Watts, in his Terms of 
Christian Communion,^^ shows that the churches 
12 



134 CREEDS. 

may not appoint new rules of admission ; as a ge- 
neral rule should admit all who make a credible 
profession of religion; exclude no sheep of the fold, 
and admit no unclean beast ; take heed not to 
make the door of admission larger or straiter than 
Christ made it ; and that nothing be in their cove- 
nant but what is essential to common Christianity. 
He has a list^^ of substantial articles, all very fun- 
damental, save that of the mode and subjects of 
baptism, which he argues (whether consistently or 
no) is fundam.ental to the peace of the church. 
A.nd he shows ^^ that the Christian church flou- 
rished more than a hundred years without any set 
creeds, and argues their utter insufficiency, because 
they often have the assent neither of the head nor 
the heart. So late as 1804, Dr. Worcester's church 
in Fitchburg say, in defence of their creed,^^ if. the 
candidate dissented from any article, and it did 
not appear to result from enmity to the truth, he 
was admitted; "for it was never dcsigned to 

EXCLUDE ANY FROM COMMUNION WHO APPEAR TO BE 
REAL SUBJECTS OF EXPERIMENTAL RELIGION." Tho- 

mas Goodwin ^^ shows that we are to bear with 
Christians for the sake of Christ that is in them, 
and therefore tolerate them as Christians, but con- 
tend earnestly for the faith. Dr. Kippis, in his 
Vindication of Dissenting Ministers, says : ^^ " We 
dissent because we deny the right of any body of 
men, whether civil or ecclesiastical, to impose hu- 
man creeds, tests, or articles ; and because we 
think it our duty not to submit to any such impo- 
sition, but to protest against it as a violation of 



CREEDS. 135 

our essential liberty to judge ajid act for ourselves 
in matters of religion." He adds:^^ "They will 
not subscribe to human forms, which themselves 
believe, when such formularies are pressed upon 
them by an incompetent and usurped authority." 
He shows ^^ that ministers, believers in the doc- 
trine of the Trinity, voted that no human com- 
position or interpretation of that doctrine should 
be made a part of the Articles of Advice in 1719. 
Plymouth Church ^^ covenanted " to walk in a 
church state, in all God's ways made known or to 
be made known to them. They reserved an entire 
perpetual liberty of searching the inspired records, 
and forming both their principles and practices from 
those discoveries they should make therein, without 
imposing them on others." This appears from their 
original covenant in 1602.^° Milford Church, Conn., 
founded in 1640, had a covenant ; but no mention 
is made of any confession of faith. New Haven 
and Guilford had a doctrine of faith, short, compre- 
hensive, and highly Calvinistical.^^ The original 
covenant of the First Church in Boston, after the. 
preamble, is simply this : ^^ " Do solemnly and deli- 
berately, as in Christ's holy presence, bind ourselves 
to walk, in all our ways, according to the rule of 
the gospel, in all sincere conformity to his holy or- 
dinances, and in mutual love and respect to each 
other, so far as God shall give us grace." Every 
member wrote his own confession in his own way, 
and to the satisfaction of those who received him 
into their fellowship. At first the churches of New 
England were usually constituted with no other 



136 CREEDS. 

form than a covenant. The author of Seasonable 
Thoughts on Creeds and Articles of Faith as Reli- 
gious Tests, asks : ^^ " Do not the framers and advo- 
cates of creeds, as tests of orthodoxy and Christian 
communion, seem to confess that they are not satis- 
fied with the Bible on this subject? ... If creeds 
are necessary to guard against heretics, the Bible is 
not a sufficient rule. . . . Do they operate, have they 
operated, or are they likely ever to operate, as an 
effectual preventive to unprincipled and heretical 
men gaining admission into a Christian church ? " 
He seemsj in the sequel, to misapply these just sen- 
timents, to advocate receiving such as build not on 
the Christian foundation. Dr. Eckley shows ^^ that 
if creeds could be made perfect, then nothing would 
be necessary but to learn the creed. Foxcroft, in 
his Century Sermon,^^ says : " The Congregation- 
alists were for having the rule of Christianity be the 
rule of conformity." Morton, in his New England 
Memorial, says : ^^ " Higginson's Confession of 
Faith and Covenant was acknowledged only as a 
•direction pointing to that faith and covenant con- 
tained in the Holy Scriptures; and therefore no 
man was confined to that form of words^ but only to 
the substance and scope of the matter contained 
therein ; and, for the circumstantial manner of join- 
ing the church, it was ordered according to the wis- 
dom and faithfulness of the elders, together with 
the liberty and ability of any person. Hence it was 
that some were admitted by expressing their consent 
to that written confession of faith and covenant; 
others did answer questions about the principles of 



CREEDS. 137 

religion, that were publicly propounded to them; 
some did present their confession in writing, which 
was read for them ; and some, that were able and 
willing, did make their own confession, in their own 
words and way." Letchford, in his Plain Dealing,^^ 
shows very minutely that profession of faith was 
made either by question and answer or else by 
solemn speech, as to the sum and tenor of the 
Christian faith laid down in the Scriptures, the of- 
ficers in the church, and their duties. Such is the 
evidence of one who complained of their too great 
strictness, because they required evidence of experi- 
mental religion. He spoke that which he knew, 
and testified that he had seen. Such testimonies, 
it would seem, ought to set for ever at rest the 
notion that Higginson's Confession of Faith was 
used as a constitution of the church and a test of 
admission. John Corbett says : ^^ " We need no 
human addition to sacred things, nor any mutable 
circumstances to be terms of fellowship." Cotton 
Mather, in his Letter to Lord Barrington,^^ says: 
" No church on earth so notably makes the terms 
of communion run parallel with the terms of salva- 
tion. The only declared basis of union among 
them is that vital piety in which all good men, of 
different names, are united." Robinson reminds 
the Plymouth immigrants, on parting,^^ that it is 
an article of their church covenant " to be ready to 
receive whatever of truth shall be made known to 
them from the written word of God." The Rev. 
C. Upham shows ^^ that it is a fundamental prin- 
ciple of Congregationalism not to impose a test, 

12* 



188 • CREEDS. 

which may not be complied with by all sincere 
Christians. In a similar manner argue Dr. West 
(Anniversary Plymouth Sermon, 58, 59), President 
Stiles (Convention Sermon, 45), John Howe 
(Works, 459, 931), and Mauduit (Case of Dissent- 
ing Ministers, 34, 35). Such was the freedom of 
Congregationalism in its glory, in the golden age : 
such it is still, so far as it is Congregationalism, 
and that notwithstanding the Procrustean efforts of 
many ministers, churches, and different bodies of 
men, to deprive it of its locks, while sleeping in the 
embraces of some Philistine Delilah. Mr. Mitchell 
says : ^^ " Congregationalists object to creeds being 
used as tests, or set up as standards to enforce uni- 
formity. ... As articles of peace and bonds of union, 
we fear they create divisions as often as they pre- 
vent them ; " and, speaking of some who " think 
that heaven and earth should pass, rather than one 
jot or tittle of the exact wording of the prescribed 
creed ... be not fulfilled," he says : " Any brother 
that offends in one point they hold to be guilty of 
all, and obnoxious to ecclesiastical censure. They 
put their strait-jacket upon the limbs of Charity, 
who loves freedom as she loves truth, and make 
their narrow views the jail-limits, within which she 
walks afflicted and confined." 

. In the face of all this cloud of witnesses and 
hundreds of others, there are those who maintain 
that it is Congregational to make creeds constitu- 
tional tests of admission to the churches. Even 
Upham, in his Ratio Disciplinse, says : ^^ " None of 
these various sects [among which he has enume- 



CREEDS. 139 

rated Congregationalists], so far as known, is des- 
titute of an authorized and settled constitution; 
each of them embodying what it conceives to be 
the sense of Scripture in certain articles of faith, . . . 
which the individual members are in general not 
at liberty to disregard." And the Congregational 
Manual ^^ says: "The instrument by which indi- 
vidual believers are constituted one body in a 
church is a Confession of Faitli,^^ (See Church, 
what constitutes ?) Bellamy, in his Letters to Scrip- 
turista,^^ maintains the right of test-creeds, because 
it is matter what people believe. If men change 
their views, they should honestly declare it. True ; 
but should we test and reject men who appear to 
be Christians, because they agree not to our expo- 
sitions of portions of the Holy Scriptures? An- 
drew Fuller, in his Ecclesiastical Polity ,^^ argues 
for test-creeds, on the ground that individuals and 
society have a right to form their own connections 
with those with whom they agree in views. But 
the premise is denied in this case, because Christ 
has given the injunction, — "Him that is weak in 
the faith receive ye." Professor Pond, in his Trea- 
tise on the Church,^^ argues in the same strain as 
do Bellamy and Fuller. — See Dr. Bacon's Church 
Manual, 22 — 28. See Fundamentals, Members. 

1 Church Gov. 64. ^ Page 19. ' Pages 44, 45. ^ p^ges 119, 
120. ^ Vol. i. 150. 6 In Han. i. 7. ^ lb. 98. « lb. ii. 162. « lb. 
166, 167. *oib. 225. ^^ lb. 558. »' lb. iii. 401. ^^ lb. 521. 
»4 lb. 598. »s Enquiry, part ii. 57—67. *« In Hall's Puritans and 
their Principles, 295. 7' Apology, 34, and elsewhere. ^^ Rat. 
Dis. Introduct. 4. ^^ Page 88. ^u p^ge 90. ^i Works, iii. 235— 
250. 22 Pages 258—262. ^3 Page 265. «* Pacts and Documents, s. 



140 DANCING. 

^ Ch. Gov. book vii. chap. 12. ^e p^ge 29. "" Page 30. ^ Pages 
34, 57. 2^ Prince's Chronology, 4. '^"^ lb. 89. ^i Lambert's Hist. 
New Haven, 101, 164. ^2 ^t. John Cotton, in N. Englander, 
Aug. 1850, p. 412. ^^ Pages 8, 9. ^^ Dudlean Lect. 23. ^5 Page 9. 
^^ Page 146. ^^ In Hist. Soc. Col. series iii. vol. iii. 68. ^^ Princip. 
and Pract. of Several Nonconformists, 2. ^^ Hist. Soc. Col. series i. 
vol. i. 19. ^^ TJpham's Dedicat. Serm. 29. ^^ Century Serm. 5Q» 
42 Guide, 53, 54. ^3 Page 35. ^ Page 26. ^5 Works, i. 371—390 ; 
and Doctrinal Tract Society's edition, i. 597 — 613. ^^ "Works, ii. 
629, 630. 47 Pages 23—27, and Appendix, note C. 

DANCING. — Neal ' notes, among the anti- 
puritan movements after the Restoration, that "in- 
terludes, masquerades and promiscuous dancings 
profane swearing, drunkenness, and a universal 
dissolution of manners, were connived at, and the 
very name of godliness became a reproach. — See 
Amusements. 

^ Hist, of the Puritans, ii. 247. 

D. D. — Dr. Owen ^ declares that he did not use 
the title, save out of respect to the university which 
conferred it, nor till some were offended because 
he left it off; and it is found that most who have 
received it since, feel the same great respect for the 
good judgment and just discrimination of those 
who confer it ; while the class of expectants are 
very mute, and the rest are perplexed with the 
meaning of Rabbi in Matt, xxiii. 8, finding no Rabbi 
to expound it to their mind. They are, therefore, 
reminded of the fable of the Fox and the Grapes. 
R. Williams ^ is violent against them, as vain titles, 
and calling men Father and Rabbi. 

* In Han. iii. 473. "^ Hireling Ministry none of Christ's, 15. 



DEACONS. 141 

DEACONS, their office. — Goodwin, in his Cate- 
chism,^ shows at length that this is to take care of 
the temporal affairs of the church, particularly re- 
ceiving and distributing of alms ; and not without a 
separate appointment to preach the word, as Philip 
did after God called him to be an evangelist. 
Hooker, in his Survey,^ demonstrates the same doc- 
trine, and shows also that it is appropriate to their 
office to provide the elements for the Lord's table, 
and also to see that each member of the church 
contribute his due share, and bring delinquents to 
censure. John Owen, in his Catechism,^ asserts their 
duties to be to take care of the poor, receive col- 
lections, and distribute alms. Cotton Mather says ^ 
that it is "to relieve the pastors of all the tempo- 
ral affairs of the church." Mitchell ^ describes their 
duties to be to receive and distribute the alms of 
the church ; to distribute the bread and wine at the 
Lord's Supper ; to act, in some respects, as assist- 
ants and substitutes to the pastor. He says : " In 
the pastor's absence, they preside at the meetings 
of the church ; and, when there is no preacher, they 
conduct its worship." These last duties were, in 
earlier times, held appropriate to ruling elders. 
Punchard ^ makes it the duty of the senior deacon 
to preside in the absence of the pastor. Owen, in 
his Nature of a Gospel Church, chap, ix.,"^ says that 
a deacon has no authority to rule, i.e. preside in a 
church. Cambridge Platform^ defines their office 
and work to be "to receive the offerings of the 
church, gifts given to the church, and to keep 
the treasury of the church, and therewith to serve 



142 DEACONS. 

the tables, which the church is to provide for ; as the 
Lord's table, the table of the ministers, and of such 
as are in necessity, to whom they are to distribute 
in simplicity." The king's book, drawn up by 
bishops and divines in the latter part of the reign 
of Henry VIIL admits " that their office, in the 
primitive churchy was partly to administer meat and" 
other necessaries to the poor, and partly to minister 
to the bishops and priests." Foxcroft, in his sermon 
at the ordination of a deacon, says ^ the design 
of deacons is to provide for the Lord's table, the 
minister's support, and the poor saints. Churches 
should furnish them with the means of distributing 
to the necessity of saints ; otherwise the choice of 
them is solemn mockery. John Webb, in his Ser- 
mon at the Ordination of a Deacon, maintains ^^ 
that they are to provide for the table of the Lord, 
of the ministers, and the poor. It is no part of their 
work either to preach or baptize. Dr. Dwight ^^ 
maintains that they are to be assistants to the 
ministers, which he argues from Paul's directions, 
the nature of their office, and ecclesiastical history ; 
moderators of the church in the absence of the 
minister ; to distribute the sacramental emblems 
(anciently they also carried them to those that were 
absent), and to distribute the alms of the church. 
Isaac Chauncy, in his Divine Institution of Congre- 
gational Churches, says : ^^ " He that ministers to 
the external concerns of the church is a deacon. . . . 
There may be one or more, as the concerns of the 
church are." — See Punchard's View, 92 — 102 ; 
Upham's Rat. Dis. 74—78. 



DEACONS. 143 

1 Pages 25—27. ^ Part ii. 37, 38. ^ Works, xix. 538. ^ j^at. 
Dis.128. & Guide, 171. « View, 170. ^ Works, xx. 524. ^ Chap, 
vii. sect. ii. ^ Pages 14, 37. ^° Pages 3—5. ^^ Works, Serm. civ 
12 Page 62. 

DEACONS, ^/letV qualifications and induction. — 
John Owen, Nature of a Gospel Church, chap, iv.^ 
shows that they are an institution of apostolical 
power from Christ ; that they are to be chosen by 
the people : and their necessary qualifications are 
to be of honest report, and fulL of the Holy Ghost 
and of wisdom. John Webb, in his Sermon at the 
Ordination of a Deacon,^ maintains that they are 
to be introduced to their office by the suffrage of 
the brethren and prayer. T. Foxcroft, in his Ser- 
mon at such an ordination, says ^ that the practice 
was then (1731) almost extinct. Dr. Dwight ^ dis- 
cusses the subject at length, maintaining that they 
are to be chosen by a vote of the church, and 
ordained by the imposition of hands. They must 
be grave, sincere, temperate, free from avarice, ac- 
quainted with and heartily attached to the doctrines 
of the gospel ; of a fair Christian reputation, the 
husbands of one wife, and ruling their families well. 
See Punchard, View, 92—101, 167; Upham, Rat. 
Dis. 74—79 ; Owen, Works, xix. 538. 

^ Works, XX. 412. ^ Page 13. ^ Page 3. ^ Works, Serm. civ. 

DEACONS, what they ^'purchase " in a ^^gooa de- 
greeP — Owen, in his Nature of a Gospel Church/ 
shows that it does not mean that they may preach, 
unless by virtue of a new office, as that of a dea- 
con is defined. (See Preach, who may?) Watts, 



144 DEDICATlUJNtt. 

in his Foundation of a Christian Church,^ says: 
" They obtain a good degree of honor and respect, 
knowledge and graces, and a good step towards the 
office of ruling or teaching elder." T. Hooker^ 
says that one of the first inlets to the Man of Sin 
was to lift up a deacon above his place. He shows 
that a " good degree " means a good standing in 
the church, and that a deaconship is no necessary 
preparation for the ministry. Foxcroft, in his Ser- 
mon at the Ordination of a Deacon,^ says, if bishops 
and deacons are two orders of ministers, why are 
we able to produce a divine commission for but 
one of them? Cotton Mather* supposes that the 
passage, 1 Tim. iii. 13, means (as he says some 
critics read) seats of eminence in the church. 
Hence, probably, was the origin of the deacons' 
seats in the old meeting-houses. They were seats 
of honor. 

^ Works, XX. 529. * Works, iii. 315. ' Survey, part ii. 35, 36. 
'^ Page 9. ^Eat. Dis. 130. 

DEACONS' WIVES. — Cotton Mather says:^ 
"'Tis often inquired, when deacons are chosen, 
whether their wives are such as directed ; but there 
is a mistake about the meaning of the text in 
1 Tim. iii. 11. It is gunaikes^ women, i. e. the dea- 
conesses or widows; and there is not there one 
word about deacons' wives any more than the pas- 
tors'. 

^ Rat. Dis. 131. 

DEDICATIONS. — The Waldenses, in one of 
their early confessions,^ say : " So many supersti- 



DEDICATIONS. 145 

tious dedications of churches . . . are diabolical in- 
ventions." Goodwin ^ says Christ gives many 
directions about the public prayers of the church, 
— not in places dedicated as holy, with difference 
from others, as the temple was, — but " I will that 
prayers be made everywhere." Lord King ^ says of 
the primitive churches, that they did not imagine 
any such sanctity or holiness to be in their places 
of worship as to recommend^ or make more accept- 
able, the services that were discharged therein, than 
if they had been performed elsewhere. He quotes 
Clemens Alexandrinus,^ Justin Martyr, and Diony- 
sius (Bishop of Alexandria), to sustain him : " So 
that the primitive practice and opinion, with re- 
spect to this circumstance of place, was that, if the 
state of their affairs would permit them, they had 
fixed places for public worship, which they set 
apart to that use for conveniency and decency's 
sake, but not attributing to them any such holiness 
as thereby to sanctify those services that were per- 
formed in them." Cotton Mather,^ speaking of 
private devotions on coming into a place of public 
worship, says : " And so far as holiness of places is 
the ground therein gone upon, the principle is dis- 
carded." Dr. Emmons^ says: "How many have 
argued in favor of dedicating new meeting-houses, 
because the temple was dedicated!" He shows 
that the Christian dispensation superseded the 
Mosaic, and so that the conclusion does not follow. 
Rev. C. Upham, in his address at the laying of the 
corner-stone of the new meeting-house in Salem,^ 
speaks of their disappointment at not finding some 

13 



146 * DELEaATION OF RIGHTS. 

plate or memento under the old one. He might, 
with equal probability of success, have looked there 
for a papal crucifix or the identical one which 
Endicot cut out of the king's colors. Dr. Ware, 
in his History of the Old North and New Brick 
Churches,'^ speaks of the dedication of a meeting- 
house as early as 1721. — See Consecrations. 

^ In Punch ard's Hist. 108. ^ Qh. Gov. 13. ^ Enquiry, part ii. 
118, 119. 4 Kat. Dis. 63. ^ Yol. v. 439. ^ In Appendix to Ded. 
Serm. 59. ^ Page 26. , . 

DELEGATES, are pastor^^ ex officio, in councils ? 
Cotton Mather shows ^ that it has been strongly 
pleaded that no church officers sit as delegates as 
such, but only by being sent by their churches ; 
yet that practically the churches act as though 
their pastors were ex officio members, though they 
do not admit pastors without delegates ; and once 
a synod sent immediately to a church for delegates 
who had only sent their pastors. — See Councils, 
of whom composed; pastors sit in^ by virtue of their 
delegation, 

1 Rat. Dis. 175. 

DELEGATION OF RIGHTS condemned.— Owen, 
in his Nature of a Gospel Church, chap, v.* shows 
that no part of essential church power can be dele- 
gated; as admitting members, choosing officers, 
and the like. See Han. i. 273. — See Power, 
church, cannot be given away, nor taken from them, 
nor delegated. 

^ In Works, xx. 440. 



DEMOCRACY. 147 

DELEGATION, power of churches to send^ and 
call to account — Samuel Mather^ argues this point 
at length, maintaining it from the delegation from 
Antioch to Jerusalem. He shows that the same 
right was afterwards exercised in sending Clement's 
epistle from Rome to the Corinthians ; also that it 
is fit in itself, and that there is a parallel to such 
calling to account, in the case of Peter, by the 
church at Jerusalem, after his eating with Cornelius, 
which Peter satisfactorily explained to therrh 
1 Apology, 73—75. 

DEMOCRACY in church government — John 
Wise, in his Vindication,^ takes a great stride 
(seventy years) in advance of the times, and boldly 
advocates the legitimacy of democracy and repub- 
lics, both in civil and ecclesiastical government. 
He shows that it is agreeable to the law of nature, 
and that nothing but ill-nature is ever necessary to 
tran^orm a monarch into a tyrant. He shows, 
both by theory and examples, how it may be made 
both a just and efficient government, and how the 
cause of true piety has always flourished most 
where this divinely constituted ecclesiastical govern- 
ment has been maintained, besides instancing many 
cases where God has blessed it in a civil govern- 
ment. Previous to this time, Congregationalists 
had met with some terrible posers from their anta- 
gonists, who pleaded that their principles tended to 
foster republicanism and democracy. Prynne, for 
instance, pressed this point in his Twelve Consi- 
derable Questions ; while the Congregationalista 



148 DISCIPLINE. 

wearied themselves to find the door of truth, — not 
having abandoned the notion of the divine right of 
kings. They therefore urged special powers in the 
ministry and elders to make a mixed government. 
(See Pastor, has he a negative vote ?) This is one 
of the few points in which the modern Congre- 
gationalists seem to have made advances in favor 
of liberty, and to see the light clearer than did their 
fathers. — See Independency endangers monarchy. 

1 Pages 40—42, 60—66. 

DEVOTION, private^ in public assemblies. — Cot- 
ton Mather says : ^ "It is in these churches neither 
preached nor approved. So far as it openly pro- 
claims a secret and singular devotion, it is con- 
demned as a Pharisaical ostentation ; so far as the 
holiness of places is the ground gone upon, the prin- 
ciple is discarded." 

1 Rat. Dis. 63. 

DISCIPLINE, for ivhat required ?— Owen, in 
his Catechism,^ enumerates the causes of disci- 
pline to be — moral evils, false fundamental doc- 
trines, and blasphemy. He^ raises the question 
whether the church should discipline a flagrant 
offender, who at once declares his penitence openly, 
before the church commence their process with 
jhim ; and answers in the negative, unless they may 
reject whom Christ receives ; for the end of disci- 
pline is attained in the recovery of the sinner. Cot- 
ton Mather ^ says : " The churches of New England 
have no agreed catalogue of crimes, that shall ex- 



DISCIPLINE. 149 

pose to church censure, except what is in the Bible 
itself. ... It belongs to such plain trespasses as a 
person with our measure of illumination cannot 
obstinately persist in, without forfeiting an interest 
in the kingdom of God." Mitchell ^ says : " No 
matter can be a subject for discipline at all (though 
it may oe for private reproof), for which the of- 
fender could not be scripturally excommunicated, 
in case of his persisting in it. A question closely 
connected with this is, " Should a member be disci- 
plined and excluded who has already withdrawn 
from the church?" For an answer, see With- 
drawing. 

1 In Works, xix. 560. ^ Jb. xx. 558—560. ^ Rat. Dis. 142. 
* Guide, 115. 

DISCIPLINE, proper^ a privilege. — It is often, if 
not generally, treated as a warfare among brethren; 
but, rightly conducted, it is a divinely instituted 
privilege of every erring Christian to be reclaimed 
from his faults. See this matter wisely handled in 
Samuel Mather's Apology, 94 — 96. Dr. Ames ^ 
says it is not the proper end of reproof, that there 
maybe an entrance made to excommunication, but 
that the necessity of excommunication, if it can be, 
might be prevented. 

* Marrow of Sacred Divinity, 168. 

DISCIPLINE, mode of procedure in, — The rule 

for all private offences, it is unanimously conceded 

by Congregationalists, is that laid down in Matt. 

xviii. See Samuel Mather's Apology, 74 ; Dr. 

13* 



150 DISCIPLINE. 

Dwight, Works, Serm. clxii. ; Cotton's Way of the 
Churches, 92, and Keys of Heaven, 85 ; Cambridge 
Platform, chap. xiv. ; Mitchell's Guide, 84 — 96 ; 
and John Robinson, in Punchard's History, 339. 
The True Description of the Visible Church says:* 
" If the fault be private, holy and loving admonition 
and reproof are to be used, with an inward desire 
and earnest care to win their brother ; but if he 
will not hear, yet to take two or three brethren with 
him, whom he knoweth most meet for that purpose, 
that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every 
word may be confirmed ; and if he refuse to hear 
them, then to declare the matter to the church." 
In the same points agree all the writers above 
cited. Cotton Mather^ says: "A scandalous trans- 
gression, known to one or two," should be proceeded 
with as is a private offence. Letchford, in his 
Plain Dealing,^ says : " Ordinarily, matter of offence 
is to be brought before the elders in private. But, 
where the offence is public, most Congregational 
writers argue that there is no need of these private 
steps. Letchford also adds : ^ " Public offences 
are heard before the whole church, and strangers 
too, in Boston." For this course argue John Ro- 
binson,* Thomas Goodwin,^ John Cotton,'' Cam- 
bridge Platform,' Mitchell,' and Samuel Mather.*^ 
These, and the other advocates for a more summary 
process, in cases of public notoriety, claim to deduce 
their conclusions from such passages as 1 Tim. v. 
20, and 1 Cor. v. Many are, however, unable to 
perceive how these, or any other directions, con- 
cerning the treatment of transgressors, limit the 



DISCIPLINE. 151 

application of the rule laid down in Matt, xviii. If, 
for instance, an offended brother proceeded against 
the incestuous Corinthian just as though his had 
been a private offence, why was not Paul's injunc- 
tion fulfilled to the letter, just as much as it was, 
provided the whole church proceeded in a more 
summary way ? But, as a faithful lexicographer, I 
am constrained to admit that most Congregational 
writers argue the contrary. The universal applica- 
tion of the rule in Matt, xviii. would prevent ten 
thousand disputes, whether offences come under 
the head of public or private. Dr. Dwight,^^ though 
he denies the necessity, yet advocates the expedi- 
ency, of universal private dealing in public offences, 
" because the persuasion that it is necessary is so 
universal, that it is necessary for the satisfaction of 
all." Dr. Hopkins ^^ argues very conclusively, from 
the nature and ends of discipline, that it should al- 
ways be according to Matt, xviii., even for public 
offences. He shows that, when the offence is known 
only to one person, he cannot proceed in discipline, 
for want of witnesses. Mitchell ^^ says, — Charges 
against an offending brother should be distinctly 
specified, and seasonably communicated to him, 
commonly in writing. They should be sustained 
by evidence. The two or three witnesses are to be 
called to judge of the crime, faulty or offence, and 
not to proceed, unless the offence is against some 
express rule of the gospel, nor unless there be evi- 
dence of the fact. In default of these, they should 
endeavor to convince the brother offended. If it be 
told to the church, and the delinquent refuse to 



152 DISCIPLINE. 

hear, then it is agreed that he should be cut off from 
the church. (See Upham's Rat. Dis. 139 — 143.) 
Punchard. in his View/"^ says : •• The regular course 
of procedure ... is substantially this : A brother, 
who is acquainted with the circumstances of the 
case, immediately, and without conference with 
any one, seeks a private interview with the tres- 
passer; he tells him plainly, but with gentleness 
and kindness, what he has seen or known offensive 
or unchristian in his conduct. ... If the offence be 
strictly private, ... a private acknowledgment . . . 
and promise of reformation would be deemed satis- 
factory. ... If known only to few, confession to 
these might be deemed sutficient. But if the cause 
of complaint be extensively known, the confession 
must be public. . . . Confession and satisfaction 
should be as public as the offence. So said John 
Robinson, so say we. If the offender refuses to 
give satisfaction, the complainant selects one or 
two . . . brethren to assist him in his efforts to con- 
vince and reclaim the erring brother. If these efforts 
prove unavailing, a regular complaint is laid before 
the church, generally ... in writing, specifying the 
particular charges, . . . and the persons by whom, 
and the means by which, it can be proved, and the 
attempts that have been made to adjust the diffi- 
culty privately. It is . . . out of order for a church 
to receive a complaint till assured that the private 
steps have been taken. The church then vote to 
examine the charges. Evidence of the truth of 
these is then called for. Witnesses may be intro- 
duced who are not professors of religion. If the 



DISCIPLINE. 153 

church are convinced of the guilt of the accused, 
they . . . labor to convince him of his sin, and to 
induce him to make Christian satisfaction. If un- 
successful, the church, after suitable delay, proceed 
to admonish him, suspend him from their com- 
munion (see Suspension), or to excommunicate and 
cut him off from all relation to or connection with 
the church ; ... to cast him out as a heathen man 
and a publican. The decision of the church should 
be announced to the offender by the pastor, and 
thus solemnly pronouncing his excision from the 
visible body of Christ, ... or by a letter of the same 
general import, written in the name of the church." 
In a note ^^ he says : " Many churches make an 
exception " to the rule of private labors in case of 
public offences ; but he prefers the private course, 
" for one prominent reason, if for no more, viz., that 
it is better adapted to secure one great end of all 
church discipline, — the reformation of the offender.^'' 
See Rights of accused. 

iln Punchard's Hist. 370, 371. '-^ Rat. Dis. 148. ^ In Hist. 
Soc. Col. series iii. vol. iii. 72. ^ lb. ^ In Punchard's Hist. 339 ; 
Han. i. 263; and Works, iii. 134, 135. ^ Church Gov. 130, 131. 
^Keys, 85. ^ Chap. xiv. ^ Gmde, 105, 108, 109. ^^ Apology, 
97. '^ Works, Serm. clxii. i^ Yol. ii. 355, 358. ^^ Guide, 102, 
103. ^4 Pages 178—180. ^^ lb. iSO. 

DISCIPLINE, every member is bound to proceed 
in. — The obligation to this is clearly stated in Cot- 
ton's Keys, 35. 

DISCIPLINE, churches should assist in, ivith ad- 
vice and council. — Thomas Goodwin^ demonstrates 



164 DISCIPLINE. 

this from the nature of the case, and the example 
of the church at Jerusalem in the dispute at An- 
tioch. 

^Catechism, 21. 

DISCIPLINE of one church by another. — Neal ^ 
shows that even the Brownists held that one church 
might thus advise, counsel, and, if need be, with- 
draw fellowship from another. The Independents, 
in their Apologetical Narrative,^ say : " The offend- 
ing church is to submit to an open examination by 
the neighbor churches ; and on their persisting in 
their error or miscarriage, then they are to renounce 
all Christian communion with them." John White ^ 
and Cambridge Platform ^ lay down the same rule 
under the title of the Third Way of Communion 
of Churches. So does Thomas Goodwin.^ — See 
Churches discipline each other ^ SfC. 

^ Puritans, i. loO. ^ lb. 492. ^ Lamentations, in "Wise's Vin- 
dication, 170, 171. * Chap. XV. sect. 2. ^ Catechism, 21. 

DISCIPLINE, Congregational, efficient — That 
it is the reverse has been the stereotyped complaint 
of those who are unacquainted with it, and of some 
who are. N. Whitaker^ complains of the almost 
total destitution of discipline here, and says : " The 
purity of the New England churches is boasted of, 
but not to be found." He ascribes the cause to the 
democratic element contained in their constitution. 
He discards Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians; 
mistaking it for the work of Clemens Alexandrinus 
in the middle of the third century, instead of Cle- 



DISMISSION. 155 

mens Eomanns who died A.D. 100. Some of his 
conclusions appear about as correct as is this prem- 
ise. Many communions have been more strict in 
disciplining for departures from their sectarian 
Shibboleth ; but, with all our culpable remissness, 
we challenge the production of more strict and 
efficient discipline with respect to moral character 
and Christian deportment. The appellation " Puri- 
tan " was applied to our fathers by way of reproach, 
and was retained by those who were the chief ad- 
vocates of Congregational doctrines. 
1 Confutation of Wise, 38, 87. 

DISCIPLINE, hoiv affected by decisions of civil 
courts, — Cotton Mather^ argues that church disci- 
pline should not be brought into dependence on the 
decisions of civil magistrates, as that may be evi- 
dence to a church (7) which is not admissible in a 
civil court, and vice versa. Also, that, when the 
session of a court is near, the church may forbear 
to try a cause, "lest they prejudice that court, of 
which they should be very careful at all times." 

* Magnalia, ii. 230. 

DISMISSION, are churches bound to give, to all 
not under discipline ivho ask it? — The Answer of 
the New England Elders to this question,^ speaking 
of one who wishes to remove, contrary to the minds 
of the church, says: The churches dissuade from 
the evil, and show the sin, and do not consent if it 
seem wrong, but suspend their vote against him, 
not willing to make our churches places of im- 



156 DISMISSION. 

prisonment. Welde, in his reply to Rathband, 
says : ^ " If any man be desirous and steadfastly 
bent to depart, the church never holds him against 
his willj though she sees little or no weight in his 
reasons. What would he have them do, when they 
cannot be satisfied with the grounds of his depar- 
ture? Must they say they are satisfied, when they 
are not ? All they can do is, through indulgence, 
to suspend their vote, and leave him at liberty." 
He goes on to show that the church can testify to 
all his good conversation; and on this testimony 
he can be received, and so need not be left like a 
heathen. True, these remarks were made with spe- 
cial reference to changing of residence, in the feeble 
days of the colonies, and specially of the frontier 
towns ; but the principle will apply to all removals 
from one church to another. Were it understood 
and acted upon, it would save nearly half the pre- 
sent bickerings between churches and their dis- 
affected members, and half the " delivering up to 
councils." Here is a system of perfect liberty on 
both sides. Cotton Mather ^ says : " When one 
judges that he can, with more edification, enjoy the 
blessings of the new covenant in another society, 
except the society have any just exception against 
his judging so, he does well to ask a dismission, . . . 
and they ought to give it. If they refuse, a council 
may order it." Isaac Chauncy * says : " A letter of 
dismission may be either with or without recom- 
mendation, as the case may require, or the carriage 
of the member hath been, tliough he hath not been 
under dealing of the church for any censurable ac- 



ECCLESIASTICAL POWER. 157 

tion." — See Affinity; Members, improperly de- 
tained^ — remove with consent^ — received ivithout 
dismission; Separation; Schism. 

^ Page 74. 2 j^ Han. ii. 324, 325. ^ j>,at. Dis. 138, 139 
Divine Institution of Cong. Churches, 119. 

DISMISSION should be denied to one under deal- 
ings or when asked either to the world or to a false 
church, — So argues Isaac Chauncy.^ The church 
in Boston thus refused to dismiss F. Hutchinson to 
no church.^ — See Affinity; Members, may they 
be received from other churches without dismission 
and recommendation ? 

^ Divine Inst. Cong. Churches, 120. ^ J. Cotton's Letter to 
F. Hutchinson, in Hist. Soc. Col. series ii. vol. x. 185, 186. 

DOCTRINES of Congregationalism. — Punchard' 
enumerates the most important of these to be, " The 
Scriptures recognize but two orders of church offi- 
cers. . . . There should be an entire ecclesiastical 
equality among all Christian elders. . . . Councils . . . 
have no juridical authority, being simply advisory 
bodies. . . . Churches, though independent of each 
other, . . . yet should hold themselves ready to give 
account to sister-churches of their faith and reli- 
gious practices." He shows ^ that these were among 
the doctrines of the ^rian^, and of the Reformers 
in the reign of Edward VI. 

^Hist. 14. ^Ib. 75, 210, 211. 

ECCLESIASTICAL POWER, w;to. — T. Good- 
win defines this to be " an investiture with the 
14 



158 ELDERS. 

authority of Christ, merely out of his will, whereby 
men are authorized and enabled, by commission 
from Christ and in his name, to do what others 
cannot do ; and, by virtue of which, that which they 
do hath a special efficacy in it, from the powder of 
Christ seconding and- accompanying it, which also 
the conscience acknowledging, submits itself to, as 
unto the power of Christ, for the sake of his will or 
institution." By this he evidently means things of 
divine institution, in distinction from what synods, 
councils, churches, or church officers, decree of their 
own wills, without an express institution of Christ. 
It is evident, too, that Goodwin held a special 
power given to the church to deliver to Satan. — 
See Excommunication. 

' Church Gov. 17. 

ELDERS, ruling. — This was formerly one of 
-the most vexing subjects in the Congregational 
churches. In the beginning of the separation, they 
were in somewhat general use, but are now almost 
universally discarded. Ainsworth, in his Answer 
to Smith,^ maintains that they were of divers sorts, 
from the use of different words to designate them 
in 1 Tim. v. 17 ; Phil. i. 1 ; and Acts xx. Smith 
had advocated their diversity in his Book of Prin- 
ciples, but now retracted, and considered them all 
one and the same. Simpson, in his Anatomist 
Anatomized,^ declares that he believes in their di- 
versity, but asserts that even some Presbyterians 
believed in their identity with pastors. John White ^ 
argues the divine right of ruling elders from Rom. 



ELDERS. 159 

xii. 8 ; 1 Tim. v. 17 ; and 1 Cor. xii. 28 : maintaining 
that "governments " here means church governors 
distinct from teachers. Cotton Mather ^ advocated 
ruling elders, but tells us that they were almost 
extinct in his day; and that it was argued that 
1 Tim. V. 18 was the only Scripture that asserted 
that office, and that those there referred to might 
be only differently employed ministers. He quotes 
a Scotch writer to prove their necessity, who still 
concedes that he can find no express mention of 
them for the first three centuries, but argues their 
use from analogy as necessary to guard the rights 
of the people. Mather also says : ^ " There are 
some \vho cannot see any such officer as ruling 
elder appointed in the word of God. Our churches 
are now (1697) generally destitute of such helps." 
But,^ in the Heads of Agreement, it is agreed that 
the question of ruling elders shall make no break 
among them. Owen, in his Nature of a Gospel 
Church, chap, vii.'^ says : " Some begin to maintain 
that there is no need of but one pastor, bishop, or 
elder" (see ib. chap. viii.). Baillie ^ says: "The 
Independents (i. e. in the Westminster Assembly) 
were flat against the institution of any such office 
by divine right, though they were willing to admit 
them in a prudential way." See Punchard's View, 
78 — 84. See next article. 

» In Ilan. i. 183. ^ Ib. ii. 245. ^ Lamentations in Wise, 168. 
* Hat. Dis. 122—128. ^ Magnalia, ii. 206. « Ib. 236. ^ Works, 
XX. 481. Inllan. ii. 218. 

ELDERS, sa77ie as bishops. — One of the charges 



160 ELDERS. 

against Barrow and Greenwood before the High 
Commission was, that they maintained that every 
elder, though no doctor or pastor, is a bishop.^ 
Lord King ^ maintains, and shows conclusively from 
the fathers, that the same identity was recognized 
in the primitive churches. T. Goodwin, notwith- 
standing he was for a distinctive order of ruling 
elders, shows conclusively ^ that there are but two 
orders of church officers, bishops and deacons ; that 
elders and bishops are the same, the bishops being 
tho::^e v/hom God had made overseers of the flock 
(See Baillie in the preceding article.) Isaac Chaun- 
cy ^ maintains that Christ appointed elders to care 
for the internal concerns of the church, and deacons 
for the external. " Elder, bishop, and presbyter we 
may find taken in the Scriptures for one and the 
^ame thing : they are taken indifferently for any 
ruling or teaching minister." Elder means an old 
man : applied to an officer, an alderman is elder- 
man. He shows that the pastoral office compre- 
hends the whole ministry ; but, if the pastor is un- 
able to do the whole work, he may have " helps, a 
teacher to aid in preaching, and ruling elder to assist 
in governing." 

^ Punchard's Hist. 2o3. ^ Enquiry, part i. 65. ^ Catechism, 
14, 20. ^ Divine Inst. Cong. Churches, 59—62. 

ELDERS, rulings ivhen out of date. — President 
Stiles ^ informs us that several churches, in com- 
pliance with the sentiments of their pastors, had 
ruling elders and teaching elders, yet they at length 
ceased to use the ruling elder; and the teaching 



ELDERS. 161 

elder, as distinct from pastor, is now dropped. Mr. 
Felt^ says: " The office of elders continued to be 
esteemed in the churches till the middle of the last 
century." Dr. Bentley ^ says : " The office of elder 
never existed in Salem but in name, and did not 
survive the first generation ; they were chosen, but 
never possessed the shadow of power." Dr. Ware. * 
says ruling elders were obsolete in 1735; and, 
though the church then chose two, they could in- 
duce but one only to accept, which ended the mat 
ter. Dr. Stiles * says : " Neither lay nor teaching 
elders ever obtained in many of the churches of the 
first (New England) generation." Neal ^ affirms 
that they were obsolete in his day. — See two next 
preceding articles; also, Neander, Church Hist. i. 
101. 

* Convention Sermon, 64. ^ Annals of Salem, 29. ^ Descrip- 
tion of Salem, in Mass. Hist. Soc. Col. series i. vol. vi. 243. ^ Hist. 
Old North and New Brick Churches, 29. ^ Con. Serm. 67. ^ Hist. 
New England, i. 273—275. 

ELDERS, was there a plurality of^ in ancient 
churches ? — - Goodwin ^ argues the affirmative, from 
their being mentioned in the plural, especially in 
Acts xiv. and Titus i. Hopkins^ maintains the 
negative, from there being but one angel of each 
church addressed in the Revelation. Perhaps both 
were right. — See close of last preceding article but 

one. 

* Ch. Gov. book vi. chap. 6. ' System, ii. 232. 

ELDERS, their office.— T!. Goodwin' says: "It 
is the cider's office to see that no drone or unpro- 

14* 



162 ELDERS. 

fitable servant be in the church, which may live on 
other men's labors, 2 Thess. iii. 10, 11." Cambridge 
Platform maintains the same.^ It makes it the duty 
of ruling elders to open and shut the doors of God's 
house (officially) by admission, ordination, excom- 
munication, and restoring; to call the church to- 
gether; to prepare matters in private for public 
church meetings ; to moderate church meetings ; to 
be leaders and guides in church actions; to see that 
none of the church live without a calling, or idly in 
their calling; to prevent and heal offences in life 
or doctrine ; to feed the flock, visit the sick, and 
pray with them when sent for and at other times. 
Prince ^ mentions among the principles of the Ro- 
binson church, " Ruling elders should teach but 
occasionally, through necessity, or in their pastor's 
absence or illness." — See Hooker's Survey, part ii. 
9—19 ; Hutchinson's Hist. Mass. 376. 

1 Catechism, 20. ^ Chap. vii. sect. 2. ^ Chronology, 92. 

ELDERS, rule of^ what ? — Cotton, in his Keys,* 
makes it consist in authority so binding that 
nothing can be done without them, and nothing es- 
teemed validly done unless they are present. Cam- 
bridge Platform ^ holds the same doctrine of a mixed 
administration, so that no church act can be con- 
summated or perfected without the consent of both 
elders and people. By giving the people power to 
depose their elders, they, however, virtually limited 
their power to that of mere moderators, subject to 
appeal to the church. Robinson, in his Apology,^ 
says : " It behoves the elders to govern the people 



ELDERS. 163 

in voting, in just liberty given by Christ whatsoever. 
Let the elders publicly propound and order things 
in the church, and so give their sentence on them. 
Let them reprove them that sin, convince the gain- 
sayers, comfort the repentant, and so administer all 
things according to the prescript of God's word," 
though the people are freely to vote in the elections 
and judgments of the church. In this way he 
makes the elders only moderators, though he is 
endeavoring to prove a mixed government. — 'See 
Elders, rulings when out of date ; their office; rule 
as stewards; servants of the church; rule as modera- 
tors ; Negative Vote. 

^ Page 14. 2 Chap. x. sect. 11. 'In Punchard's Hist. 349; 
and Works, iii. 43. 

ELDERS rule as stewards. — This is maintained 
by Richard Mather ^ and Clemens Romanus.^ John 
Robinson, in his Apology,^ says, as we willingly 
leave these things (admitting, reproving, &c.) to 
the elders alone, so we deny, that, in the settled 
and well-ordered state of the church, they can be 
rightly or orderly done, without the people's privity 
and consent. It belongs to the people primarily to 
rule and govern the church. In his Justification,^ 
he says : " The people's obedience stands, not in 
making these elders their lords, sovereigns, and 
judges, but in listening to their godly counsels and 
following their wise directions ; ... so neither stands 
the elders' government in erecting any tribunal . . . 
over the people, but in instructing, comforting, and 
improving them by the word of God.'' He shows 



164 ELDERS. 

that the elder is set over the church as the physi- 
cian over the patient, the lawyer over his client, 
and the steward over the family, or the watchman 
over the city. Goodwin ^ says : " The government 
of the church is not lordly, but stewardly and mini- 
sterial.'- Welde, in his Answer to Rathband,* 
shows that elders are both servants and governors, 
and that to them it pertains to be the mouth in the 
execution of the sentences of the church. Cotton ^ 
advances essentially the same arguments, and uses 
some of the same words. Cambridge Platform 
says : ' '* Church government or rule is placed by 
Christ in the officers of the church, who are there- 
fore called rulers, while they rule with God ; yet, in 
case of mal-administration, they are subject to the 
power of the church." John Robinson shows the 
same in his Apology.^ — See Ministers, authority 
of. 

1 Ch. Gov. 59. 2 Epist. to Cor. 28, 30. '^ In Punchard's Hist. 
346, 349 ; and Works, iii. 34. •* lb. 329 ; and Works, ii. 144. 
^ Catechism, 19. « In Han. ii. 318. ^ Keys, 54. ^ Chap. x. sect. 7. 
9 In Han. i. 379. 

ELDERS, servants of the church, — Robinson, in 
his Justification of Separation,^ says : " We profess 
the bishops or elders to be the only ordinary gover- 
nors in the church, . . . only we may not acknow- 
ledge them for lords over God's heritage ; but we 
hold eldership as other ordinances given to the 
church for her service, and so the elders or officers 
servants and ministers of the church.^" Ainsworth, 
in his Answer to Johnson and Clyfton,^ says: 
" Neither should the elders be minded, like Ahitho- 



ELDERS. 166 

phe], to take it ill if their counsel be not followed." 
Barrowe, in his reply to Giffard, asserts^ that, in 
default of elders, the church have power not only to 
choose, but also to ordain them; for the eldership 
doth not add more power, but more help and ser- 
vice, to the church in this action." Owen, in his 
Catechism, Ans. 42,^ says : Discipline, by authority, 
is admitted to the elders; trial, judgment, and con- 
sent, to the brethren. But he before asserts,^ Ans. 
28, that the elders guide the worship by authority, 
not from the church, but from Christ. — See Nean- 
der's Church History, i. 109. See Officers, ser- 
vants of the church. 

^ In Han. i. 205. ^ lb. 2o0. ^ lb. 58. ^ Works, xix. 547. ^ lb. 529- 

ELDERS rule as moderators, — So taught John 
Robinson,^ in his Apology^ and in his Answer to 
Helwisse.^ He says of prophesying, that the officers 
were to moderate and determine the whole exercise. 
Ainsworth, in his Answer to Clyfton,^ says : " The 
elders are to teach, direct, and govern the church in 
the election of officers. They are to do the like 
in judging and excommunicating, . . . and other 
public affairs." He had just asserted "that to give 
voices, in the decision of controversies and judging 
of sinners, is not a part o{ government^ but of power, 
which saints out of office have." To this agrees 
Cotton.^ Cartwright, in his reply to Whitgift,^ 
says that Paul and Barnabas acted as moderators, 
while the churches elected pastors. Hopkins says : '^ 
" To rule over the churches means only to take the 
lead or preside in the churches;" yet he seems to 



166 ELDERS. 

hold to the necessity of their acting in concurrence 
with the church. — See Ministers, authority of, 

^ In Punchard's Hist. 349 ; Han. i. 880 ; and Works, iii. 43. 
'lb. 369. 3 In Han. i. 261, 262. * lb. 249. ° Keys, chap. v. 
« Page 44. ^ System, ii. 238. 

ELDERS, hoiv invested with rule. — Cotton ^ says : 
" The brethren of the church invest him with rule ; 
partly by choosing him to the office which God hath 
invested with rule, partly by professing their own 
subjection to him in the Lord." He argues that 
those can thus invest others with rule who have 
themselves no power to rule. So Owen, in his 
True Nature of a Gospel Church, chap, vii.^ says : 
" Rule, or the execution of authority, is in the hands 
of the elders." — See Power, church may give, SfC. 

1 Keys, 73. ^ Works, xx. 472. 

ELDERS, i^ their office perpetual? — The exiles 
in Amsterdam, in their reply to Junius,^ object to 
the Dutch churches that their elders change yearly, 
and do not continue in their office, according to the 
doctrine of the apostles and practice of the primitive 
churches, Rom. xii. 4 ; Acts xx. 27, 28 ; 1 Pet. v. 
1 — 4. Robinson makes the same objection in his 
Apology.' 

1 In Han. i. 144. ^ Jb. 373. 

ELDERS to be chosen by the people. — Goodwin, 
in his Church Government,^ argues that because 
God has appointed elders and deacons to be set up 
by choice, and the people did choose their deacons, 



ELDERS. 167 

therefore we infer that they may choose their elders. 
See Pastor, power to electa in the church, 

1 Page 20. 

ELDERS, does their power extend beyond their 
own church? — The Independents in the Westmin- 
ster Assembly ^ maintain the negative : from Scrip- 
ture, which limits their power to a particular flock, 
Acts XX. 28; 1 Pet. v. 2; Coloss. i. 7; and from 
a pastor's office, in which preaching and ruling are 
joined. They enumerate a host of incongruities in 
their being elders to other flocks. Goodwin shows 
this, at great length, in various parts of his Church 
Government.^ He shows ^ that the elders were or- 
dained city by city or church by church, as Titus i. 5 
should be rendered ; and ^ that nothing can deprive 
a church of the right to have elders of their own to 
preside over them. Tompson and Mather, in their 
Answer to Herle,^ say: " Ordinary elders are not, 
like the apostles, to feed all flocks, but that flock 
over which the Holy Ghost hath made them over- 
seers." They show that, by consequence, elders 
cannot ordain elders of other flocks, unless invited 
so to do. 

^ In Han. ii. 462—472. ^ Particularly 53—191. » Page 82. 
* Page 138. ^ In Han. ii. 176. 

ELDERS, is one or more, necessary to the poiver 
of the church to act? — Goodwin^ maintains that 
they are necessary to any further action than to 
supply themselves with such an eldership. Query, 
Do they not thus supply themselves, pro tem,^ when 



168 ELDERS. 

they choose a moderator from among themselves ? 
Wise ^ says, that when the pastors will not convene 
a church, they may consider themselves without a 
ruler, and may convene, as when they have no 
minister to choose one. — See Government, churchy 
power of^ in the people ; Pastor, has he a negative 
vote ? Ministers, people may do their work if they 
neglect it; Power, installed in the ministry or the 
people ? 

1 Ch. Gov. 138. 2 Quar. of the Churches, 168. 

ELDERS, have they exclusive government? — This 
was claimed by Francis Johnson, on the ground 
that otherwise the people would rule both the mini- 
ster and the elders.' Studley maintained the same, 
when some of his people wished to dismiss him for 
his misconduct. He says : ^ " Here was a begin- 
ning to tread the path of popular government, the 
bane of all good order, both in church and common- 
wealth.'' Ainsworth, in his Answer to Clyfton,^ 
shows that, on this ground, there never w^ere any 
true churches which were constituted before there 
were any elders to govern them. 

1 Han. i. 217. ^ lb. 245. ^ ib. 247. 



In taking leave of this once important — now 
obsolete — subject of ruling elders, it may be re- 
marked that the opponents of our fathers continu- 
ally alarmed them with the bugbear of democracy. 
They had never dared question the divine right of 
kings, and seem to have been often appalled by the 



ELECTION. 169 

sight of their own likeness. They little dreamed 
that the truths which they demonstrated would be 
followed with such democratic consequences and 
results. Being sincere monarchists, they tried to 
make out a mixed government in Congregational- 
ism ; Christ being the King, the ruling elders the 
aristocracy, and the churches the people. But, as 
their principles obliged them to make their elders 
amenable to the people, they in fact reduced them 
to mere presidents of democratic assemblies under 
the great divine constitution. Thus their demo- 
cratic church notions and the growing spirit of 
democratic civil liberty mutually strengthened each 
other, till, long before the American Revolution, the 
advocates for tory rule and aristocratical eldership 
became comparatively few. The same spirit of 
democratic liberty is now making vast inroads into 
the Hierarchal and Presbyterial communions ; and 
causing revolutions, based more or less on Congre- 
gational principles, by those who as yet only see 
men as trees walking. May they soon see every 
man clearly! Every new triumph of civil and reli- 
gious liberty adds to the growth of that stone which 
is destined to become a great mountain, and fill 
the whole earth. — See Independency endangers 
monarchy. For the whole subject of elders, see 
Officers, Ministers, Pastor, Presbytery> 

ELECTION gives power ^ hut does not transmit it. 
Owen, in his Nature of a Gospel Church, chap, iv.^ 
shows that election to office only gives the power 
of that office, as Christ directs, but does not trans- 

16 



170 EVANaELISTS. 

mit power from one to another. The power of 
office is not in the electors. And, under the head 
of Ordination, it will appear that it is not in the 
ordainer, but is du'ectly from Christ to those whom 
the people elect. 

1 Works, XX. 426. 

EVANGELISTS, i^Aa^^.— Thomas Goodv/in' as- 
serts that they were extraordinary ministers, to cease. 
And he attempts to prove it ^ from 1 Tim. i. 3, and 
Tit. i.^5. He says their business was " to perfect the 
work which was begun, and to settle the churches." 
John Cotton ^ says : " But, for the continuance of 
this office of an evangelist in the church, there is 
no direction in the Scriptures." — See Punchard's 
View, 76, 77. 

1 Ch. Gov. 129. » lb. 312. ^ Keys, 78. 

EVANGELISTS not to be ordained for the con- 
version of infidels, — Owen, in his Nature of a Gos- 
pel Church, chap, v.^ maintains that no church has 
power to ordain men for the conversion of infidels, 
unless by designation of divine Providence; that 
the primitive churches ordained none but to office 
in a particular church. He asserts that such ordi- 
nations were forbidden in the ancient churches, and 
that the Council of Chalcedon * declared them null. 
" Such ordination wante a constituted cause," viz. 
election by the people. On this principle all our 
ordinations of missionaries, evangelists, &c. are un- 
congregational. When there is a church to need 
* A.D. 451. 



EXCOMMUNICATION. 171 

a pastofj they are competent to ordain him. And, 
as for the necessity for it to their administering 
occasional communion to destitute churches, it 
should be borne in mind that this was formerly 
considered as out of order. . (See Ministers, may 
they administer seals in another church ?) But sup- 
pose Richard Mather's and Dr. Watts's theory the 
true one, viz. that the church may lawfully employ 
any of their own number to administer them, — 
(see Seals, can a church authorize ? Sfc) — then 
there is no need of any special unction, by ordina- 
tion, either in a broken or an unbroken succession, 
to give this power. I. Chauncy ^ says that an evan- 
gelist " needs no other ordination than the appro- 
bation of the church of which he is a member, 
accompanied with solemn prayer for a blessing on 
his ministry." There was an ordination of several 
evangelists for the Society for promoting Christian 
Knowledge, in Boston, in 1733.^ See Neander's 
Planting and Training of the Church, book iii. 
chap. 5. The arguments for, and the mode of pro- 
cedure in, the ordination of evangelists and mis- 
sionaries, are given at length in Upham's Rat. Dis. 
sect. 86 — 94. Suffice it to recommend the careful 
investigation of this question. — See Ordination 
of missionaries. 

^ In Works, xx. 456. ^ Divine Inst. Cong. Churches, 83 
* Rev. Dr. Sewall's Sermon at their Ordination. 

EXCOMMUNICATION, what — A question 
much agitated among the old Congregational wri- 
ters and some others. The True Description out 



172 EXCOMMUNICATION. 

of the Word of God of the Visible Church ^ holds 
that " it is a casting out of their congregation and 
fellowship, covenant, and protection of the Lord, 
and delivering to Satan," &c. Goodwin^ main- 
tains the same doctrine of an official spiritual pun- 
ishment, from which there is no appeal on earth. 
He heads his sixth chapter, book I. : " That by ex- 
communication more is meant than a mere casting 
out of the church ; that it is an ordinance of Christ 
to deliver the excommunicate person to Satan, in 
his name and power." And fully does he sustain his 
caption, in his positions, if not by his arguments. 
He makes the execution of the sentence the anathe- 
ma maranatha, and maintains that Satan is ever 
ready to visit with special terrors such as are cast 
out. His arguments are specious and terse. Lord 
King^ shows that it was thus viewed by the an- 
cients, as, for instance, from TertuUian : " That the 
delinquent was banished from communion of 
prayers, assemblies, and all holy converse ; being 
looked upon as unworthy of human society, cast 
out of the church of God, and, impenitently dying 
in that state, as certainly excluded from the king- 
dom of God hereafter." John Owen, in his Nature 
of a Gospel Church, chap, x.^ defines it *' a giving 
up to the state of the heathen and tlie kingdom of 
Satan, and declaring him liable to everlasting pun- 
ishment without repentance." 

Others, however, advocated a different theory. 
Burroughs, in his Ireniciim,^ says : " It is a great 
question among our brethren, whether this traditio 
SatancB were not apostolical, peculiar to the apos- 



EXCOMMUNICATIOIT. 173 

ties, so as ordinary elders had it not." Bartlett, in 
his Model,^ asserts that the same was a great ques- 
tion among the Presbyterians in the Westminster 
Assembly. Hetherington "^ says : " The Indepen- 
dents practically admitted no church censure but 
admonition ; for that cannot properly be called ex- 
communication, which consisted, not in expelling 
an obstinate offender, but in withdrawing them- 
selves from him." We see, however, that this was 
not Goodwin's opinion, nor can I find that Bur- 
roughs denied the power of expulsion from a church. 
The Declaration of Discipline, published anony- 
mously (of necessity) in 1574 (probably UdaPs), 
says: ^ Excommunication is a cutting off from the 
communion and fellowship of the faithful ; but de- 
clares it to be " foully abused." It ^ reprobates exe- 
cration as a medium in excommunication. Cotton 
Mather *° says : The difference between the greater 
and the lesser excommunication seems so little, that 
" the suspension laid upon an offender, at the time 
of his admonition, is often stopped at." And ^^ 
"formerly they pretended to a formal giving to 
Satan; the pastors of some churches have now 
espoused another notion of this passage, — a prero- 
gative apostolical and extraordinary." S. Mather*^ 
is out upon the doctrine with a vengeance. He 
says : " As to a power fastened to the keys, ... by 
which men can deliver up a person to the devil, in 
the name and authority of Jesus Christ, we pretend 
to no such power, . . . nay, we detest it." Begin- 
ning thus, he goes on to do justice to his position, 
and wonders that churches advanced in the doc- 
15* 



174 



EXCOMMUNICATION. 



trines of the Reformation should adopt a theory 
which so props the doctrine of the infallibility of 
the church, and about which there are no charges 
and special directions in the word of God. He 
says that these churches pretend to no more power 
over their members than a society of grave philo- 
sophers over theirs, viz. " to censure and exclude 
from their society, when they have forfeited its pri- 
vileges." And he says that all such as are tho- 
roughly Congregational will be content with this 
power. Isaac Chauncy ^^ says : " Excommunica- 
tion puts a person but into the condition of publi- 
cans and sinners, with respect to ordinances." 
Professor Knowles, in his Memoir of Roger Wil- 
liams, says:^* The churches of Plymouth were in 
advance of those in Massachusetts, because they 
held ecclesiastical censures to be wholly spiritual. 
John Milton, in his Treatise on Christian Doctrine, 
says : ^^ Deliver to Satan, i.e. " give him over to the 
world, which, as being out of the pale of the church, 
is the kingdom of Satan." Punchard, in his View,^^ 
seems to recognize the doctrine of sometimes giving 
up to Satan, in the distinction which he makes 
between excommunication and withdrawment of 
fellowship ; the latter affecting the church standing, 
but not the Christian standing, of the disorderly 
brother : but he acknowledges his lack of Congre- 
gational authorities for the distinction. 



* In Punchard's Hist. 371 ; and Han. L 33. * Ch. Gov. 3, 35, 
39, et al. ^ Enquiry, part i. 123—125. ^ Works, xx. 540—544. 
* In Han. iii. 111. « lb. 240. ''^ Note in Neals Puritans, i. 489. 
« Page 168. » lb. 176. ^^ Rat. Dis. 149. " lb. 155. »« Apology, 



EXCOMMUNICATION. 175 

106—109. " Div. Inst. Cong. Churches, 122. ^^ Page 39. ^^ y^i^ 
ii. 208. ^« Pages 181, 281—286. 

EXCOMMUNICATION bp vote of the church. — 
The Answer of the New England Elders^ says: 
" The power of excommunication is in the church." 
Robinson, in his Answer to Helwisse,^ says: One 
of the elders pronounces it, upon the people's as- 
sent; . . . the men manifesting their assent by some 
convenient word or sign, and the women by silence. 
The Robinson Church, in their True Description, 
&c.^ advocate the same course. So all Congrega- 
tionalists agree. Their views may be found in 
Goodwin, Ch. Gov. 109, 112, 146, 209 ; Han. i. 254 ; 
ii. 482, 493; iii. 41, 246, 248; Cotton's Keys, 31, 
88 — 91; Hooker's Survey, part i. 62, 197; part iii. 
45, 46; Watts's Complete Works, iii. 200; Con- 
fession of Low Country Exiles, in Han. i. 95 ; Ains- 
worth, in his Controversy with Johnson, ib. 248; 
and Allin and Shepard, in their Defence of the 
Answer to the Nine Positions, in ib. iii. 41. 

^ Page 72. ^ in Punchard's Hist. 339 ; and Works, iii. 136. 
3 lb. 371. 

EXCOMMUNICATION through the officers, by 
the power of the church, — Ainsworth, in his Answer 
to Broughton,^ says : " Myself alone never excom- 
municated any, but together with the church, 
whereof I am, in the name and power of Christ." 
The Congregational Union of England and Wales 
say : ^ " The power of rejection from a Christian 
church we believe to be vested in the church itself, 
through its own officers." Owen, in his Nature of 



176 EXCOMMUNICATION. 

a Gospel Church, chap, x.^ says : The church have 
power to put away an offender without an officer ; 
though judicial power is properly in the church, and 
executive in its officers. 

' In Han. i. 152. ^ ib. iii. 600. '^ Works, xx. 547. 

EXCOMMUNICATION, is improper, valid? — 
Owen, in his Nature of a Gospel Church,^ says that 
" this depends on the person's own conscience. . . . 
If he knows himself to be guilty, it is not void be- 
cause wTongfully performed. If he knows that he 
is innocent, their wrong course cannot injure him 
before God." And I am so sadducaical as to sus- 
pect, that his own conscience, and the frightful 
bugbear doctrine, have much more to do with his 
terrors than any satanical influence, which it is now 
in the power of churches, by their vote and their 
elders' anathemas, to raise against him. 

1 Works, XX. 567. 

EXCOMMUNICATION should be only for great 
sins. — The Independents, in their Apologetical 
Narrative,^ say : " They apprehend that excommu- 
nication should be only for crimes of the last im- 
portance." * Robinson, in his Answer to Bernard,^ 
says : " The church of England is in a heavy case, 
that plays with excommunications as children do 
with rattles." Hooker^ shows that toleration must 
be granted to corrupt members till the evil be ex- 
amined, the parties convened, and censures applied 

* They evidently refer to what they termed the greater ex- 
communication, or delivering to Satan, 



EXCOMMUNICATION. 177 

for reformation. Cutting off is only used when 
things come to an extremity. (See Rights of the 
accused) He maintains^ that gross sins "only 
deserve excommunication by the law of Christ." 
Owen, in his Nature of a Gospel Church, chap, x.* 
shows that excommunication should be only of 
scandalous offenders for known sin. The fact must 
be confessed or clearly proved, a previous process 
had, and the case determined by the whole church. 
" Haste is the bane of church ruleP 

1 In Neal's Puritans, i. 492. ^ in Han. i. 209 ; and Works, ii. 60. 
^ Part i. 27, 28. ^ ib. part iii. 39, 40. ^ In Works, xx. 549—551. 

EXCOMMUNICATION in difficult cases; churches 
may have counsel previous to, — So says Cotton 
Mather, in his Ratio Disciplinse.^ T. Goodwin, in 
his Church Government,^ seems to lay down prin- 
ciples which go against this conclusion, though he 
is arguing against a previous consultation of a 
classical Presbytery. 

1 Page 155. « Pages 144—150. 

EXCOMMUNICATION should be made public. — 
There is such a relation of churches that such an 
act should be made public. Thus the church in 
Salem apprised the church in Dorchester of their 
dealings with Roger Williams.^ The reason is 
obvious, that there should be sufficient publicity 
for the community to be informed in what relation 
the individual stands to the church. In whatever 
way this is made public, it is sufficient. 
^ Hutchinson's Hist. Mass. i. 371. 



178 EXCOMMUNICATED. 

EXC0:M]\IUOTCATI0N may take place in the 
absence of the offender. — Thus the church excluded 
Mr. Eaton, first teacher of the school in Cambridge.* 
If it be asked, How is this consistent with the rule 
in Matt, xviii. ? it is answered, in the language of 
one of the old Puritan writers, " Whatever is the 
dictate of the law of nature is the law of God." 
Otherwise, the delinquent might claim to be in 
good standing in the church, so long as he kept out 
of the way. 

^ Winthrop's Journal, i. 313, 

EXCOMMUNICATION, one church has not power 
of over another. — Ainsworth, in his Communion 
of Saints,* says : " For although we may advise, 
exhort, warn, reprove, &c. so far as Christian love 
and power extend, yet we find no authority com- 
mitted to one congregation over another for excom- 
municating. . . . Christ reserveth this power in his 
own hand." Burton, though he seems in words ^ 
to maintain the contrary, yet evidently refers to a 
mere withdrawal of fellowship. — See Churches 
discipline each other ^ but not juridically. 

1 In Han. i. 285. ^ ib. ii. 77. 

EXCOMIMUNICATED, how to be treated. — The 
views of Congregationalists differ on this point, 
correspondingly to their views of the nature of ex- 
communication. Should he be treated as the Jews 
treated publicans and sinners, or as Christ treated 
them ? John Cotton says : * " "With a publican the 
Jews would not eat ; ... no more should we with 



EXCOMMUNICATED. 179 

excommunicate persons." Cotton Mather says:^ 
" They are not excluded from civil privileges, but 
from familiarity ; thus acting according to the apos- 
tle's rule to avoid them." The Robinson Church, 
in^their True Description, &c.,^ say : " They (the 
church) are to warn the whole congregation, and 
all other faithful, to hold him as a heathen and a 
publican, and to abstain themselves from his society, 
as not to eat or drink with him, &c. ; unless it be 
such as of necessity must needs, as his wife, his 
children, and family. Yet these, if they be mem- 
bers of the church, are not to join with him in any 
spiritual exercise." This was written either by 
Clyfton or Smith, Robinson's predecessors. Robin- 
son says ^ that " excommunication should be wholly 
spiritual, a mere rejecting the scandalous from the 
communion of the church, in the holy sacraments 
and those other spiritual privileges which are pecu- 
liar to the faithful." John Cotton ^ argues that they 
were to walk towards them as the Jews walk to- 
wards heathen and publicans, withholding from 
them familiar civil communion ; for so the Jews 
said to Christ's disciples, " Why eateth your Master 
with publicans and sinners ? " A most unfortunate 
quotation for his argument, unless the example of 
the Pharisees is to be followed rather than that 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Cambridge Platform,^ 
Hooker's Survey ,'^ and Owen's Catechism, Ans. 46,^ 
teach the doctrine of non-intercourse. But Samuel 
Mather^ advocates the contrary; the church, as ho 
argues, having gone to the extent of their commis- 
sion when they have cast the offender out of their 



180 EXCOMMUNICATED. 

communion. ]VIitche]P° supposes the injunction, 
" no, not to eat," to refer to persons guilty of gross 
iniquities ; " with such a one not to company ; " 
though he advocates a distinction in the conduct 
to be observed towards excommunicates and other 
impenitent persons. Dwight ^^ holds the same view 
of the interpretation of the passage. Ames, in his 
Marrow of Sacred Divinity ,^^ says : " They who 
are lawfully excommunicated are to be avoided of 
all communicants, not in respect of duties simply 
moral, or otherwise necessary, but in respect to 
those parts of conversation which are wont to ac- 
company approbation." Letchford, in his Plain 
Dealing,^^ says : " The excommunicated is held as 
a heathen man and a publican, yet children may 
eat with their parents. The excommunicated may 
come, and hear the word and prayer. But at New 
Haven, where Mr. Davenport presides, he is held 
out of the meeting in frost and snow, if he will 
hear." Perhaps this is an old edition of blue-law 
fictions. But sure it is that even some of our Puri- 
tan fathers retained so much dread of what the 
popes invented, that they supposed excommunica- 
tion the most dreadful of evils, and helped to make 
it so. In John Cotton's Letter (in behalf of his 
church) to Francis Hutchinson,^* it is admitted that 
he should sit at table with his mother, though they 
deny that others than near connections may thus 
eat. Who gave the dispensation for connections 
not to esteem the excommunicate as a heathen and 
a publican ? — See Excommunication, what ; Ex- 
communicated, may they set up churches ? 



EXCOMMUNICATED. 181 

Way of the Churches, 93. ^ Rat. Dis. 155, 156. ^ In Pun- 
chard's Hist. 371. 4 lb. 363. ^ Keys, 81. ^ Chap. xiv. sect. 5. 
7 Part iii. 39. ^ Works, xix. 559. ^ Apology, 93—109. ^^ Guide, 
130- " Works, Serm. clxii. ^^ page 169. ^^ In Hist. Soc. Col. 
series iii. vol. iii. 73. ^* lb. series ii. vol. x. 186. 

* EXCOMMUNICATED, his sentence to be treated 
as rights till the matter is examined and judged by 
others, — Goodwin ^ shows that this is right in 
itself, and was practised by the primitive churches. 
Mitchell ^ clearly advocates the same doctrine, which 
has been ever practised. By the advice of council, 
however, those deemed to have been unjustly cast 
out are received into other churches.^ — See Dis- 
mission; Members received vnthout dismission, — 
See also the last preceding article. 

1 Ch. Gov. 204, 227. ^ Guide, 118. ^ Hubbard's Hist. Mass. 419. ^ 

EXCOMMUNICATED, may they set vp churches ? 
Goodwin ^ strenuously maintains the negative, on 
the ground of his hobby doctrine, — their being 
judicially delivered to Satan. Here he at one blow 
unchurches all the churches of the Reformation. 
They were again and again excommunicated under 
the most awful execrations. Besides, he here loses 
sight of his own exception, — that unjust excom- 
munication is null and void in the sight of God. 
Admit this exception, and his proposition amounts 
to no more than the doctrine of all orthodox Con- 
gregationalists, viz. that none but penitent believers 
have a right to church membership. 

^ Ch. Gov. 207. 
16 



182 FELLOWSHIP. 

FAITH, particular^ i.e. assurance of having the 
thing prayed for. — Thomas Goodwin held the doc- 
trine of a particular faith, and prayed not for Crom- 
well's recovery, of which he was assm-ed ; but his 
assurance proved unfounded presumption.^ John 
Howe held the contrary doctrine. 

* Eliot's Ecc. Hist. Mass., in Hist. Soc. CoL series i. vol. ix. 9. 

FELLOWSHIP, all Christians have a right to it. 
Goodwin ^ shows that every godly man has a right 
to the sacraments and to church fellowship ; yet to 
the sacraments only in virtue of his church relation, 
as every freeman has a right to the comforts of the 
marriage state, but is entitled to them only through 
marriage itself. Samuel Mather^ represents Cot- 
ton as having declared to his congregation, that, if 
even " a poor Indian should step forth and say, I 
love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth, 
and should testify his willingness to walk according 
to the gospel, though his defects were great for 
ignorance and the like, he should be for admitting 
him to the Lord's table." — See Creeds. 

1 Ch. Got. 259. ^ Apology, 86, note. 

FELLOWSHIP of various kinds and degrees, — 
Goodwin ^ shows that fellowship is of three kinds ; 
Personal, in secret duties ; mystical, common to all 
the saints ; and in a communion in an instituted 
church. 

* Ch. Gov. 255. 

FELLOWSHIP, rules of — Owen, in his Eshcol, 



FUNDAMENTALS. 183 

or Duty of Walking in Fellowship,^ says the rule 
of walking in fellowship is " cheerfully to undergo 
the lot of the whole church in prosperity and afflic- 
tion, and not to draw back under any pretence 
whatever." That which leads to shrink from one 
duty will lead to shrink from other duties, till the 
member becomes a backslider. Another rule which 
he lays down ^ is, "Watching over and admonishing 
every brother, and telling the church if he be not 
reclaimed. He shows ^ that telling the elders is 
not telling the church. 

* In Works, xix. 98. ^ Jb, 103. ^ lb. 106. 

FLIGHT in persecution is admissible. — So argued 
Jojin Robinson, in his Answer to Helwisse,* and 
applied the argumentum ad hominem (i.e. applied it 
personally). 

^ In Han. i. 265 ; and Works, iii. 159. 

FORMS, needless in ordinances. — Cotton Mather, 
in his Ratio Disciplinse,^ speaking of ordination, 
says : " For these things the churches of New 
England have no forms. They are instructed and 
united in the substance, and their not being tied to 
forms does but give them the delight of the more 
variety in expressions and in circumstances.'^ 

* Pages 40, 41. 

FUNDAMENTALS of Christianity. — As the 
Congregational rule is, Union with all who em- 
brace the fundamentals of Christianity, there will 
still be a want of agreement just so far as they dis- 



184 FUNDAMENTALS. 

agree as to what the fundamentals of Christianity 
are. The Independents presented to Parliament 
sixteen articles, which they deemed fundamental. 
These embrace the usual orthodox views of God, 
the Scripture, the atonement, total depravity, justi- 
fication by faith, the damnableness of continuing 
in known sin, worshipping God according to his 
will, the resurrection, and the final judgment and 
retribution. They are plain and simple, and con- 
tain nothing objectionable to any evangelical 
Christian. They may be seen at length in NeaPs 
Puritans.^ Watts, in his Foundation of a Christian 
Church,^ says that the fundamentals required to 
be professed will be different, according to the dif- 
ferent degrees of light of the professor. They 
should include such knowledge as is essential to 
Christianity. He gives a list ^ of substantial arti- 
cles, all very fundamental save the one on infant 
baptism, which he pleads is fundamental to the 
peace of the church, though not of Christianity. 
He maintains,^ that confessions of faith made to 
the church should be confined to no set form of ex- 
pression, and declaims against those set confessions 
which exclude for nonconformity to one little point 
or word. Letchford, in his Plain Dealing,^ says : 
Mr. Cotton lately preached a sermon, showing that 
there are twelve, which tried by, any church may 
receive them in. They are substantially these : — 
The Trinity; God's universal government; God 
only to be worshipped ; his worship is instituted in 
the Scriptures ; the fallen state of man ; inability to 
save ourselves ; incarnation for the work of redemp- 



FUNERALS. 185 

tion; salvation offered only to believers; no man 
can come to Christ, except the Father draw him 
by his word and Spirit; justifying grace; the jus- 
tified regenerated and sanctified ; imperfect sanc- 
tification in this life. Ignorance concerning the 
foundation of the church, as baptism, imposition 
of hands, &c., he argues, should not hinder from 
admission. — See Confessions of Faith; Creeds. 

1 Vol. ii. 143. 2 Vol. iii. 256. » lb. 258—262. * ib. 262, 263. 
* In Hist. Soc. Col. series iii. vol. iii. 69, 70. 

FUNERALS. — Our Puritan fathers saw so much 
superstition connected with the burial service, con- 
secrated graveyards, and the like, that they, for a 
time, almost wholly discarded all funerals. The 
First Independent Church in England say, in their 
Confession, art. xxiii. : * " Concerning making mar- 
riage, and burying the dead, we believe that they 
are no actions of a church minister, neither are 
ministers called to any such business; neither is 
there so much as one example of any such practice 
in the whole Book of God, either under the law or 
under the gospel ; without which warrant we believe 
it unlawful, whatsoever any minister doth, at any 
time and place, especially as a part of his ministe- 
rial office and function." Cotton Mather, in his 
Ratio Disciplinse,^ says of the New England prac- 
tice : " In many towns, the ministers make agree- 
able prayers with the people, come together at the 
house to attend the funeral of the dead, and in 
some they make a short speech at the grave: in 
other places, both these things are wholly omitted. 

16* 



186 aOVERNMENT. 

However, they are not forbidden, as in the French 
churches, where the prohibition runs, ' There shall 
be no prayer or sermon at funerals, to shun super- 
stition.' " The Apology of the Overseers, &c., of 
the English Church at Amsterdam, says ^ ministers 
should not be burdened with civil affairs, as mar- 
riages, burials, &c. Letchford, in his Plain Dealing,* 
shows that they have funerals without reading or 
sermons, but in silence. Dr. Ware, in his History 
of the Old North and New Brick Churches,^ says : 
" Dr. Samuel Mather, at his own request, received 
a private funeral in 1785." (How?) 

1 In Han. i. 300. ^ Page 117. ^ Pages 37—61. -'In Hisf. 
Soc. Col. series iii. vol. iiL 94. ^ Page 23. 

GIFTS, weekly. — Jacob's Church say, in their 
Confession, art. xxv.^ of gifts and offerings: " Though 
they be free and voluntary in the givers, touching 
the particular quantity, yet that they do thus give 
and offer every Lord's day is a very commandment 
of God, and a point of necessary obedience in man." 
See Collections, weekly. 

1 In Han. i. 300. 

GIFTS lohich God gave to men. — Goodwin * 
shows that these are pastors, teachers, and church 
officers. 

1 Ch. Gov. 263. 

GOYERNMENT, churchy instituted in the Scrip- 
tures. — John Milton, in his Treatise against Prela- 
cy,^ says and demonstrates " that such government 



GOVERNMENT. 187 

is set down in the Scriptures, and that to teach 
otherwise is unsound and untrue.^^ J. Burroughs, in 
his Sermon before Parliament,^ says : " Ecclesiasti- 
cal government, being of divine institution, must be 
the same where churches are complete." Prince, 
in his Chronology,^ says of the founders of Ply- 
mouth church and colony : " They observ.ed God's 
institutions as their only rule in church order, dis- 
cipline, and worship." J. Corbett, in his Principles 
and Practice of Several Nonconformists, says : ^ 
" We believe that it is Christ's high prerogative, 
transcending all human authority, to institute spiri- 
tual officers." Goodwin taught the same doctrine 
abundantly in his Church Government. — See 
Churchcs, instituted bodies. 

^ Works, i. 84. » Page 33. ^ Page 5. ^ Page 4. 

GOVERNMENT, church, not lawful to alter.— 
Pierce, in his Vindication of Dissenters,^ quotes 
from WicklifFe: "'Tis not lawful for a Christian, 
after the full publication of the law of Christ, to 
devise to himself any other laws for the government 
of the church." Eaton and Taylor, in their De- 
fence,^ say : " The way of discipline is one and 
essentially unchangeable." 1 Tim. vi. 13, 14. 

* In Punchard's Hist. 161. ^ Page 107. 

GOVERNMENT, church, should it be varied to suit 
circumstances? — Answer: When God thus alters 
it. Goodwin shows * that, under the patriarchal 
dispensation, it was in the head of the family ; 
under the Mosaic, it was hierarchal; and under the 



188 GOVERNMENT. 

Christiarij when the church was to be dispersed 
among all the nations, it was made congregational. 
Bm'ton,in his Vindication of Independent Chm^ches, 
in answer to Prynne's Twelve Considerable Ques- 
tions,^ shows that, in case it might be varied with- 
out his direction^ it might be obliged to conform 
to that which is unscriptural ; and that the gospel 
might just as well be varied, and sent to different 
countries garbled to suit the wishes of the rulers 
and the people. 

' Ch. Gov. 175. 2 In Han. ii. 389—393. 

GOVERNMENT, church, in the people. — Robin- 
son ^ says : " It should seem, then, that it appertains 
to the people, . . . unto the people primarily, under 
Christ, to rule and govern the church." Goodwin, 
in his Church Government,^ maintains the same 
doctrine, and discusses it at large. The Puritan 
ministers of England, in their Letter to the Gene- 
ral Assembly of Scotland in 1641,^ assert that " the 
whole power of government, and all acts thereto 
pertaining, are, by divine ordinance, in for o externo, 
to be determined by the most voices in and of every 
particular congregation. They moreover plainly 
intimate that their acts ought to be determined 
"without any authoritative — though not without 
a consultatory — interposition." Mitchell, in his 
Guide,* says : " The church, though destitute of a 
minister, is still competent to discipline, though the 
presence and aid of a pastor is very desirable." — 
See Elder, is one, or more, necessary to the churches 
poiver to act ? Ministers, authority of what ? Pas- 



GOVERNMENT. 189 

TOR, has he a negative vote ? Power, installed in 
ministry or brethren? Ministers, people may do 
their work for them^ if they neglect it. — See also 
the next article. 

^ In his ApoloiJjy, in Punchard's Hist. 347 ; and Works, iii. 34. 
2 Page 44—49. ^ in Han. ii. 98. ^ Page 94. 

GOVERNMENT, church ; is it mixed ? — Not- 
withstanding the old Congregationalists so strenu- 
ously maintained that the government was in the 
people, yet they took pains to argue that it was a 
mixed one. This they did to avoid the imputation 
of democratic sentiments and practices. Jacob, in 
his Divine Beginning and Institution of Christ's 
Visible Churches,^ maintains that it is democratical 
as to the necessity of the free consent of the people ; 
aristocratical so far as the direction of the elders 
and pastors is concerned ; and also partly monar- 
chical, alluding doubtless to Christ's rule over it, 
which is acknowledged by all. Hooker, in his Sur- 
vey,^ and Cambridge Platform,^ assert the same 
thing in similar language ; yet they are careful to 
put an effectual check on the aristocratical power 
of the elders, in making them amenable to the 
church for mal-administration. The language of 
the Platform* is: "Church government or rule is 
placed by Christ in the officers of the church, who 
are therefore called rulers, while they rule with God. 
Yet, in case of mal-administration, they are sub- 
ject to the power of the church." This explanation 
puts an end to the idea of an irresponsible vetoing 
aristocracy ; a sentiment not likely to prevail among 



190 GOVERNMENT. 

Americans of this age. — See the cross-references 
under the last preceding article. 

1 In Han. i. 228. ^ Part i. 206. ^ Chap. x. * Pages 3y, 40. 

GOVERNMENT, Congregational^ how distin- 
guished, — Hooker, in his Survey,^ among other 
distinguishing points, notices these : The power of 
judgment is not the power of office. The people 
are superior to their elders in point of censure, and 
do not giv-e away the power of judgment when they 
choose an officer. The officers may call them to- 
gether, enjoin them to hear, enjoin silence, and dis- 
solve (?) the meeting when they act disorderly. 
The power of judgment is in the chwxoh formaliter^ 
in the rulers directive, Mitchell says : ^ " The things 
which distinguish the Congregational plan from 
others are two : the importance it gives to the bro- 
therhood, in matters of discipline and government ; 
and the independence of the churches of foreign 
control or supervision. . . . The powers of govern- 
ment are vested in the church as a body with its 
officers ; the latter acting in their official capacity, 
as the guides and the executive of the church." — ■ 
See Congregationalism, epitome of principles of. 

1 Part i. 191—196. ^ Guide, 57. 

GOVERNMENT, civile what obedience do we owe 
it .^ — I quote several old writers on this point, ob- 
serving the order only of the pages of the books 
quoted. Bridge, in his Wounded Conscience 
Cured,^ quotes several German, French Protestant, 
Genevan, Dutch, Scotch, and English divines, 



GOVERNMENT. 191 

maintaining that if the prince turn traitor, and the 
people resist, they are not rebels. He says : ^ " The 
power (of government) abstractly is from God ; . . . 
the designation of the person that is to work . . . 
under this power is of man. . . . We leave this power 
where we found it. But, if the person entrusted 
with that power shall not discharge his trust, it falls 
to the people to see to it ; which they do as an act 
of self-defence, not of jurisdiction over their prince." 
He shows ^ that " there is a difference between dis- 
posing of a thing by way of donation, and by way 
of TRUST : " the one may, and the other may not, 
be resumed. The power of the prince he holds 
to be only a trust-power. But " if the conqueror 
conquer the whole kingdom, and keep them under 
by conquest only, why may not the subjects rise, 
and take up arms, and deliver themselves from 
slavery ? " J. Burroughs, in his Glorious Name of 
the Lord of Hosts,'* notes several things which the 
spirit of a Christian should not bear; viz. " A natu- 
ral slavery in these three things : his property, which 
God and nature hath given him, to be wholly at 
the will of another . . . ; subjection to a government 
that he has in no way yielded assent unto . . . ; 
and to be in such a situation, that, whatsoever 
he does, he shall receive nothing for it by way of 
justice, but merely of favor. This is slavery, which 
an ingenuous spirit cannot bear." Tn his Answer 
to Fearne,^ he says : The apostle does not say, 
Whosoever resists the highest man resists the ordi- 
nance of God, but Whosoever shall resist exousia 
(the ?iuthority, not dunamisy mere force). He infers ^ 



192 GOVERNMENT. 

that we are subject to the king-s power, i.e. what 
the laws give him, but not to his will. The apostle 
requires us not to resist the exousia, but does not 
require us not to resist tyranny. The power is of 
God, but designing the person to exercise that power 
is anthropine ktisis, a human creature, 1 Pet. ii. 13. 
The right to govern comes not from conquering, 
but from some agi'eement antecedent or consequent. 
He maintains that acting without law is not an 
abuse of any lawful power, but only usurpation and 
tyranny. Hannah Adams, in her History of New 
England,'^ says : The influential characters in New 
England maintained that " birth is no necessary 
cause of subjection ; '' and that, when they re- 
moved, they owed no subjection but a voluntary 
one, founded on their compact with the king. Cot- 
ton pleaded that " government is a theocracy," and 
that none but the pious should be chosen rulers, 
and that magistrates should have coercive power 
over churches ! ^ Withers, in his History of Resist- 
ance,^ says: The late Lord Chief Justice (Holt), 
at the time of the abdication of James IL, decided 
that " he who hath a trust, acting contrary, is a dis- 
claimer of the trust." Baynes, in his Diocesan's 
Trial,^° says: "If kings be not absolute monarchs, 
it was never deemed absurd to say that then people 
had power, in some cases, to depose them." Dr. 
"William Ames the younger, in his Legislative 
Power is Christ's Prerogative, maintains that all 
legislative power is from him, and that men are 
bound to obey all laws which are right and proper, 
and not those which come of the ten horns of the 



GOVERNMENT. 193 

beast Philip Nye, in his Oath of Supremacy Law- 
ful, and the Power of the King in Civil Affairs, 
says : " " All men are by nature equal," and yet 
lamely argues the divine right of kings. He as- 
serts ^^ that no power, civil or ecclesiastical, can 
enforce the soul. He argues ^^ that the civil magis- 
trate, and not classes, ought to have a power of 
jurisdiction over the several congregations in his 
dominions. Pierce, in his Vindication of Dissent- 
ers,^* says: The Puritans admit that the power of 
magistrates is from God, but the power to desig- 
nate the magistrate is in the people. In the High 
Church Politics,^^ it is asserted that, in 1683, twenty- 
seven propositions were condemned by the Univer- 
sity of Oxford, among which are, — " All civil 
authority is derived originally from the people. 
There is a mutual compact, tacit or express, be- 
tween a prince and his subjects ; and, if he perform 
not his duty, they are discharged from theirs. If 
lawful governors become tyrants, and govern other- 
wise than by the laws of God and man they ought 
to do, they forfeit the right they had to their go- 
vernment. . . . The doctrine of the patient suffering 
of injuries is not inconsistent with the violent re- 
sisting of the higher powers, in case of persecution 
for religion. There lies no obligation upon Chris- 
tians to passive obedience, when the prince com- 
mands any thing against the laws of our country ; 
and the primitive Christians chose rather to die 
than to resist, because Christianity was not yet 
established as the laws of the empire." We are 
told,'^ that Dr. Sacheverell, in his Fifth of Novem- 
17 



194 GRAVES. 

ber Sermon, 1709, before the Lord Mayor and Al- 
dermen of London, said : " The grand security of 
our government, and the very pillar on which it is 
founded, is a steady belief of the subject's obliga- 
tion to an absolute and unconditional obedience to 
the supreme power in all things lawful, and the 
illegality of resistance under any pretence lahatever,^^ 
And we are also informed, that these passages 
made the groundwork of his impeachment.^^ He 
defended himself on the ground that it was " the 
doctrine of the church." — See Goldsmith's History 
of England, iii. Ill — 115 ; and Abridgment, 200, 
201, on reign of Queen Anne. See Resistance. 

1 Pages 6, 7. 2 lb. 20. ^ Po. 41, 42. ^ p^ge 94. ^ Page 2. 
6 lb. 7—14. 7 Page 32. « lb. 34. » page 19. lo Page 88. 
" Page 17. ^^ lb. 32. ^^ j^^ 41—43. ^^ Page 319. ^^ Page 88. 
16 lb. 96. 17 lb. 99. 

GRAVES, their position. — In the reign of super- 
stition under Elizabeth, one of the primary ones of 
Bishop Wren's ridiculous articles of visitation was. 
Are your churchyards duly consecrated? and "Are 
the graves due east and west, and their bodies 
buried with their heads to the west ? " ^ Men who 
despised the law of conformity to such idle ceremo- 
nies, when they came to this wilderness took evident 
pains to disregard this rule, as may be still seen in 
some of our old graveyards, particularly in See- 
konk, Mass.* Mr. Newman, the pastor there, had 
been seven times obliged to flee his parish in Eng- 
land, on account of his nonconformity. The studied 

* I have it from good authority that the same is tme of the 
old graveyard in Plymouth. 



HABITS. 196 

irregularity of these graves speaks a language like 
the round cap of the Puritan divines, not very 
beautiful in itself; but, when the law required an 
oath of the necessity of a square one, it spoke like 
Daniel's open window, when he prayed to the God 
of heaven in defiance of the decree of the king. — 
See Ceremonies, Habits, Nonconformity. 
^ Neal's Puritans, i. 324, 325. 

HABITS, Popish^ rejected, — This was done be- 
cause the common people then held them sacred on 
account of their consecration. One of the first con- 
siderable moves towards nonconformity was on the 
occasion of Bishop Hooper's refusing to be made a 
bishop in these habits.^ Here rose up, or rather 
greatly increased, the Puritans, who held that things 
indifferent in themselves ought not to be required 
bylaw, to the ensnaring of men's consciences;^ 
and multitudes lost their livings by the act of uni- 
formity.^ Bucer and Peter Martyr both inveighed 
against the habits. Bucer would not wear the 
square cap, " because his head was not square." * 
The foreign divines, when consulted, all decided 
against these habits ; yet they were pressed, and 
multitudes ot the best ministers in the land lost 
their places rather than conform. The question 
w^as not about the mere trifle, whether they should 
w^ear a cap or surplice, but whether they should wear 
such a one as would ensnare weak consciences, and 
lead them to idolatry. Whoever would understand 
this controversy should study Neal's History of the 
Puritans, i. 51 — 107, and much else in this valua- 



196 HABITS. 

ble work. Wearing these habits, they considered, 
would be understood as approving of many Popish 
superstitions. (See Bradshaw's Treatise on Wor- 
ship, pages 1, 16.) Neal, in his History of Xew 
England.^ says : The first set of Protestant bishops 
under Elizabeth were opposed to the habits. " Grin- 
dal calls God to witness, that it did not lie at their 
door that they w^ere not quite taken away." Pierce, 
in his Vindication of Dissenters, says : ^ " Burnett 
tells us, that Cranmer and Ridley designed to have 
procured an act to abolish the Popish garments ; " 
and*^ that "John Rogers positively refused to wear 
the habits, unless the Popish priests were enjoined 
to wear upon their sleeves a chalice with a host." 
When they pulled off Latimer's garments at his 
degradation, he said : " Now I can make no more 
holy water." He and Bucer were both opposed to 
the habits. And ^ he shows that the habits have 
always been offensive to good men, churchmen as 
well as dissenters. R. Parker, in his book Against 
Symbolizing with Antichrist, especially in the Sign 
of the Cross, says : ^ They say the cross and surplice 
" being consecrate to his service, they begin to be 
the things of God, yea, parts of God, whose worship 
is a worship of God, as the purple is wont to be 
worshipped with the king : . . . images and crosses 
must be adored, like holy vessels, holy books, holy 
vestments, with the like." He asserts ^° that the 
cross, surplice, &c., are "incurable and irrecouerable 
idolothites," and proceeds to prove it, showing that 
things ill consecrate necessarily become unholy. 
Prince, in his Chronology,^^ informs us that Fuller 



HALF-WAY COVENANT. 197 

says that John Rogers and Bishop Hooper were 
the heads of the reformers called Puritans. Hooper 
refused to comply with the habits ; and the matter 
progressed till Archbishop Cranmer, Bishop Ridley, 
Bishop Latimer, Dr. Taylor, Mr. Philpot, Mr. Brad- 
ford, and other glorious martyrs, came into the same 
sentiments. The whole case is described in sect. ii. 
part ii. — See Ceremonies. 

* Hist. Puritans, i. pref, ix. 51, 52. ^ ib. 79. lb. 77. * lb. 92. 
5 Neal's N. Eng. i. 48. ^Pagell. ? ib. 32. ^ ib. 476. » Page 8. 
^^Ib. 9. " Pages 212— 216. 

HALF-WAY COVENANT. — This was a doc- 
trine which, having previously taken root, prevailed 
to a considerable extent in the last half of the 
seventeenth and first half of the eighteenth centu- 
ries. To give an adequate analysis of the contro- 
versies on the subject would be to compose quite a 
volume. Dr. Harris, a seeming advocate for the 
doctrine in the present century,^ calls on such as 
have taken this covenant to fulfil their vows, main- 
taining^ that it is just as binding as the covenant 
of full communion. Stoddard, in his Instituted 
Churches, carried the doctrine so far, that he asserts^ 
that infants descended from parents under church 
censure are not to be denied baptism ; and ^ that 
the baptized are not to be debarred the communion 
for the want of the exercise of faith. Increase Ma- 
ther was one of the great champions of this doctrine, 
having been brought over in a dispute with Mitchell 
of Cambridge. He tells us plainly, in the epistle 
to the reader, in his First Principles of New Eng- 
17* 



198 HALF-WAY COVENANT. 

land concerning Baptism, that he had bhanged his 
mind on this point. He argues from authority, 
asserting that the members of the Synod of 1662 
had greater facilities for understanding the truth on 
this subject than others. He maintains^ that it is 
not an innovation, as some suppose, but was the 
doctrine of the first fathers of New England. (See 
Baptism, who are subjects of?) The great scope of 
the book is an attempt to prove, that the doctrine 
of the Synod of 1662 was no innovation. Eliot, 
In his Ecclesiastical History of Massachusetts,^ 
says: " It was a very great innovation;" and he 
tells us that " Mr. Allin of Dedham replied to the 
Anti-synodalia of Chauncy ; R. Mather to Daven- 
port (who wrote against the result of synod) ; and 
Mitchell to Increase Mather. Some say that Mr. 
Davenport overthrew the arguments of the synod, 
though they do not like his reasoning on the whole." 
President Edwards, in his Treatise on Full Com- 
munion,'^ shows that " they who pretend to own the 
covenant, and do not profess piety, do rather reject 
it." The preface to this essay, by Prince, Webb, 
Foxcroft, and Byles, asserts that its doctrines were 
maintained by the fathers of this country, above 
threescore years, without dissension. Hemmen- 
way, in his Remarks on Dr. Emmons's Dissertation, 
takes the ground that baptized children are all in 
covenant with God. Dr. Emmons, in his Disserta- 
tion, maintains the contrary. President Chauncy, 
in his Anti-synodalia, maintains that his doctrine 
had "been the judgment and the practice in the 
Bay Patent (some few inconsiderable excepted) for 



HALF-WAY COVENANT. 199 

the space of thirty years. He says ^ that " it is a 
palpable untruth for an unbeliever to engage him- 
self to keep the Lord's covenant." He maintains 
everywhere, that the baptized are under church 
watch, personally to warn them, but they are not 
in covenant. 

For the origin of the movement in favor of the 
half-way covenant, it appears that the General 
Court of Connecticut called a council, which de- 
creed it in 1657 ; but that the churches generally 
considered it an innovation on the principles of 
Congregationalism, and were so warmly opposed 
to it, that it could not be effected without a synod.^ 
In 1662, the Synod in Boston decided in favor of 
it, but against considerable opposition. The Gene- 
ral Court of Connecticut then^° "required the mini- 
sters and churches to inquire whether they should 
not receive all who have a competency of know- 
ledge to their communion." Trumbull further 
asserts," that few churches admitted the half-way 
covenant for many years, and some never did. He 
says:^^ " It does not appear, that in 1667 so much 
as one church in the colony " had assented to the 
half-way covenant. In this year a synod met by 
order of the General Court, consisting of all the 
preaching elders in the colony, and certain selected 
ones in Massachusetts (evidently to carry a point) ; 
but they still failed, and found that the clergy and 
people would not give up their private opinions 
to the ^decisions of councils. Whoever reads the 
thirteenth and eighteenth chapters of Trumbull's 
History will see that the churches and ministers 



200 HOLY DAYS. 

nobly withstood the encroachments of state autho- 
rity, and only yielded to virtual force and power. 
Since the days of President Edwards, the practice 
has gone into disuse in the orthodox churches. — 
See Upham's Rat. Dis. 224—231 ; Punchard's View, 
251. See Baptism, does it admit to the church? 
Does it make infants members ? Subjects of; Voters. 

^ Sermon on Covenant Engagements, 20. ^ lb. 12. ^ Page 18. 
4 lb. 20. ^ Pages 1, 2. ^ i^ Hist. Soc. Col. series ii. vol. i. 201— 
205. 7 Page 32. « Page 30. ^ Trumbull's Hist. Conn. 318. ^^ lb. 
326. 11 lb. 327. ^^ ib. 432. 

HERESY. — The popular notion of a heretic is a 
believer in doctrines fundamentally false. But the 
true idea of one, according to Congregational princi- 
ples, is, in the language of Mitchell,^ " a leader of a 
faction, raised commonly on the ground of his pecu- 
liar doctrinal opinions, but applicable to any factious 
leader, whether the division be for doctrines, mea- 
sures, or men." On this ground, the appellation 
" heretic " often falls, like any curse causeless, on 
the head of him who opprobriously utters it. John 
Cook, in his pamphlet. What the Independents 
Would Have,^ says: "He (i.e. an Independent) 
believes that a heretic is but to be rejected, and, as 
Luther said, to be burned with the fire of charity." 

1 Guide, 98. ^ in Han. iii. 256. 

HOLY DAYS, extra^ unlawful — Jacob's Church, 
in their Confession,^ say (art.xxii.): "We believe that 
under the gospel there is not any holy day besides 
the Lord's day." John Robinson, in his Apology,^ 



IDLENESS, 201 

speaks of them as " reared up by the side of divine 
institutions, much more holy than the Lord's day." 
He condemns the making other days, to commemo- 
rate the resurrection, &c., than the one which is 
consecrated by Christ himself and his apostles. 
Isaac Chauncy says : ^ " It is not in the power of 
the church to set apart stated times, yearly or 
monthly, to be observed, for that would be supersti- 
tion and will-worship (Gal. iv. 10; Col. ii. 16, 17) ; 
but days of fasting and humiliation may be ap- 
pointed by any church, according as weighty rea- 
sons lead thereto" (Acts xiv. 23). Pierce, in his 
Vindication of Dissenters,* shows that the Scrip- 
tures make certain the identity of but two of the 
extra days observed as holy; that two of them are 
Sundays, and it is absurd to try to make these 
more holy. It is uncertain on what day Christ was 
born, or the purification of the Blessed Virgin 
occurred, and impious to thank God that such 
things took place on such and such days. The 
articles of the Leyderi Church say :^ " The Sabbath 
is the only day which is set apart, as holy and to 
be kept sacred, in the Scriptures ; but churches and 
congregations are at liberty to set apart days of 
fasting, thanksgiving, and prayer." 

^ In Han. i. 300. ^ ib. i. 381. ^ Divine Inst. Cong. Churches, 
91. 4 Page 502. ^ Upham's Rat. Dis. 39, 249. 

IDLENESS a disciplinable offence. — This has 
ever been a doctrine of Congregationalism, founded 
on 2 Thess. iii. 11—14 and 1 Tim. v. 13.— See 
Elders, their office. 



202 IMPOSITION OF HANDS. 

IDOLATRY, remnants of^ discarded, — Robinson, 
in his answer to Hall,^ more than intimates that it 
is idolatry to kneel at the consecrated bread ; so of 
kneeling to the ordinary, when we take the oath 
at his hands. Ainsworth, in his Arrow against 
Idolatry,^ reckons the consecrated places, imple- 
ments, and even ministers, with many other ceremo- 
nies, derived from idolatrous Rome, among the 
idolatries practised by the English church. — See 
Ceremonies; Habits; Kneeling. 

1 In Han. i. 194 ; and Works, iii. 411. ^ In Han. i. 238. 

IMPOSITION OF HANDS m ordination; is it 
necessary? — This is a subject concerning which 
there has been some diversity of opinion, both 
among Congregationalists and other reformed 
churches. Goodwin ^ maintains that it is one of 
the first principles of the Christian religion. Welde, 
in his Reply to Rathband,^ quotes the Answer to 
the Thirty-two Questions, page 67 : " Though the 
essence of a minister's call consists in his election, 
'yet we look upon ordination, by imposition of hands, 
as necessary, by a divine institution." Others, as 
Dr. Watts,^ suppose that "the imposition of hands 
was the means of conveying miraculous powers." 
With this view,^ it was not practised in the Dutch 
nor the French churches ; nor has it ever been used 
in the Scotch churches at all. This is recorded as a 
fact bearing on the controversy between Clyfton, 
Johnson, and Ainsworth. It is asserted that in the 
Scriptures we find that some officers were admitted 
with it, and some without it. The Independents in 



IMPOSITION OF HANDS. 203 

the Westminster Assembly * consented to the cere- 
mony, '^provided it was attended with an open 
declaration^ that it was not intended as a conveyance 
of office powerT The Savoy Synod ^ say : " The 
way of ordaining officers ... is, after their election 
by the suffrage of the church, to set them apart with 
fasting and prayer, and imposition of the hands of 
the eldership of the church, though, if there be no 
imposition of hands, they are rightly constituted 
ministers of Christ." But they do not allow, that 
ordination to the work of the ministry, though it be 
by persons rightly ordained, conveys office-power 
without a previous election of the church. Mr. 
Pemberton '^ argues, from the Scripture instances of 
ordination, that imposition of hands may not be 
neglected without sin. Isaac Chauncy ^ says that 
there is not the least mention of imposition of hands 
in the New Testament, where the translators use the 
word ordination in its proper sense, i. e. installing a 
person into office, though the word signifies uplifting 
of the hands, by way of suffiage, in the election of 
officers. He maintains^ that laying on of hands 
conferred extraordinary gifts, and many think it 
obsolete. He concludes ^° that it is an obsolete 
ceremony, which has ceased, and assigns sixteen 
reasons for his conclusion, among which are the 
following : — The end and signification of the rite 
have ceased ; it never was appropriate to the ordina- 
tion of ministers ; most of the apostles were ordained 
without it, and no ordinary pastor (that we read of) 
ordained with it; the church's solemn and public 
election is ordination. Acts xiv. 23 ; there is no more 



204 IMPOSITION OF HANDS. 

ground for the continuance of this rite than for the 
washing of feet, or the anointing with oil; it has 
been abused by Papists, and idolized by Protestants. 
Increase Mather, in his Order of the New England 
Churches,^^ shows at length that imposition of 
hands is indifferent, while election is indispensable 
to a pastor. Notwithstanding all this, our fore- 
fathers, I believe universally, practised imposition 
of hands in ordination, and usually repeated it in 
installations. The latter they did to do away the 
impression of a peculiar unction and an indelible 
character made by ordination. — See Neander's 
Planting and Training of the Church, 97, 98 ; Up- 
ham's Rat. Dis., 120; Punchard's View, 96, and 
Bacon's Church Manual, 60; Coleman's Primitive 
Church, 139, 141. — See Calling ; Ordination, 
none besides election necessary ; Translation. 

1 Ch. Gov. 262. 2 In Han. ii. 330. ^ Serm. at the Ordin. of 
Deacons, Works, iii. 812. * Han. i. 242, 243. ^ Neal's Puritans, 
ii. 8. ^Ib. 179. 7 Ordin. Serm. of Rev. J. Sewall, 6. « Divine 
Inst. Cong. Churches, 68. » Page 74. ^^ Pages 78—83. ^^ Pages 
90—100. 

IMPOSITION OF HANDS, byivhom? — 'Rich^xd 
Mather, in his reply to Rutherford,^ maintains that, 
because the Presbytery laid hands on Timothy, it 
does not follow that no others may engage in this 
ceremony. Trumbull, in his History of Connec- 
ticut,^ informs us that Mr. Fitch was ordained at 
Saybrook in 1646 by two lay brethren, though Mr. 
Hooker, his theological instructor, was present ; and 
that they did the same in 1660, at the ordination of 
Mr. Buckingham, though a council was present. 



INDEPENDENCY. 205 

The council considered it an innovation; but the 
brethren were tenacious of what they esteemed 
their right, and it could not be prevented without 
inconvenience. The same year, Mr. Newton was 
installed at Milford by a ruling elder and two 
brethren. Isaac Chauncy^ inquires: " Who should 
ordain when there is no elder? Answer, — Who 
should do it but the church that called him ? . . . 
The power is in the church to lay on hands, if 
necessary, by some brother delegated and appointed 
thereto ; for foreign ministers cannot do an authori- 
tative act in that church." — See Ordination by 
the people. 

* In Han. ii. 188. ^ Vol. i. 299, ^ Divine Inst. Cong. Churches, 70. 

IMPROVIDENCE disciplinable. — Mitchell' says 
that this is " an offence against nature, justice, and 
religion." He asserts that it is disciplinable, accord- 
ing to 1 Tim. V. 8. — See Idleness. 

1 Guide, 99. 

INDEPENDENCY, what; wherein owned, and 
wherein denied. — This word has two technical signi- 
fications, as used by different writers, both ancient 
and modern. Hence, of those who held the same 
sentiments, we often find one lauding and the other 
condemning Independency. In one of these signi- 
fications it implies merely the independency of the 
churches from all juridical power out of themselves ; 
in the other, that one church has no right to call 
another to account, and pass sentence of non-com- 
munion against it. Congregationalists admit the 
18 



206 INDEPENDENCY. 

first, and deny the second. Hence the authors of 
the Cambridge Platform ^ say : " The term Inde- 
pendent we approve not," while their brethren in 
England, then, and to this time, call themselves 
Independents. It was on account of the extrava- 
gancies of some, who in most things copied the 
intolerance of Brown, that Robinson and our New 
England forefathers thought best to avoid the name. 
Lord Say, in his speech in Parliament,^ says : " The 
bishops do know that those to whom they usually 
do apply the term Separatists are Brownists. The 
Brownists differ from us in no fundamental point 
of doctrine or saving truth. Their failing is this : 
They hold that there is no true church in England, 
no true ministry, no true worship, which depend 
one upon another. They distinguish not between 
the purity of a church and the being of it." Welde, 
in his reply to Rathband,^ shows that we admit 
representative councils, and can pass sentence of 
non-communion, but cannot cast churches out of 
Christendom. Burton, in his Answer to Prynne,^ 
says of the word Independent : " We are not so 
ashamed of it as absolutely to disclaim it, for two 
reasons, — first, for distinction ; second, because the 
word Independent is to signify, that we hold all par- 
ticular churches of Christ to be of equal authority, 
and none to have or exercise jurisdiction over 
another : " but he rejects the nickname, as implying 
that they denied " subjection to civil government, or 
good correspondence with sister-churches, by way of 
help." Burroughs, in his Irenicum,^ shows that we 
admit the ways of reproving churches held by the 



INDEPENDENCY. 207 

Presbyterians, till we come to delivering them to 
Satan, where, he says, " lies the knot of the contro- 
versy." " They are not independent as respects 
giving account to the churches about them, but of 
being bound, on penalty of being unchurched, to 
obey their decisions." Bartlett, in his Model,^ denies 
that it can be shown of any Congregationalists, in 
Old England or New, that they exclude the advice 
of other churches, or refuse to be accountable to 
those who in a fair and orderly way desire them. 
The Propositions to Parliament for Gathering 
Churches,'^ will give a pretty good view of the 
" desires " of those " commonly but falsely called 
Independents." " Falsely " doubtless refers to the 
first definition, as given at the commencement of 
this article. — See Upham's Rat. Dis. 41 — 43; 
Punchard's View, 185. 

1 Chap. ii. sect. 5. « in Han. ii. 136. ^ ib. 337—341. ^ ib. 
403, 404. 5 Ib. iii. 110, 111. ^ ib. 238. ^ ib. 247—249. 

INDEPENDENCY of churches to exercise govern- 
ment withi7i themselves. — Gibbon, in his Decline and 
Fall, says : ^ Independence and equality formed the 
basis of the internal constitution of the primitive 
churches in the Roman empire. Goodwin, in his 
Church Government,^ argues this independency from 
the fact that an isolated church has this power, and 
the establishment of neighbor-churches cannot insti- 
tute an entire and distinct and diverse sort of gov- 
ernment over that original church. Hooker, in his 
Survey,^ asserts that each particular church is com- 
plete and independent, for the exercise of all acts 



208 INDEPENDENCY. 

and dispensations belonging to a church, without 
reference to any other congregation. And Mitchell'* 
says : " The independence of the churches is a 
necessary part of their self-government. Their 
powers become a nullity, if they resign themselves 
to a superior jurisdiction. Our Saviour himself 
gives the ultimate power to the church. Matt, xviii. 
17, 18. He does not say. If the offending member 
neglect to hear the church, let it be carried up to 
some higher tribunal, but the case is to be termi- 
nated there." See ib. 68 — 70. — See Churches 
subject to no external jurisdiction, 

^InHan. i. 7. ^ Page 134. ^Parti. 221. ^ G^ide, 66, 67. 

IXDEPEXDEXCY endangers monarchy. — Prynne, 
a Presbyterian, in the fourth of his Twelve Consi- 
derable Questions, asks : ^ " Whether the grounds 
and reasons principally insisted on for an indepen- 
dent church government be not such as, if duly 
examined, will, by necessary, inevitable consequence, 
subvert, dissolve, or at least embroil or endanger, all 
national and provincial churches, councils, and sy- 
nods, and all settled monarchical, aristocratical, or 
oligarchical government, in nations," &c. ? Here, 
alone, Burton, his Congregationalist opponent, 
seems to be put to the worse in his argument. In 
his reply ,^ he only seems to confirm Prynne's awful 
objection, though he labors hard to overthrow it. 
The truth is, Prynne's argument is unanswerable. 
Lord Brooke, in his discourse on Episcopacy,^ labors 
hard, and is evidently in great trouble, to prove that 
church liberty has not a tendency to introduce repub- 



INDEPENDENCY. 



209 



lican civil government. Even Hanbury ^ says : " It 
cannot be proved that Independency leads necessa- 
rily to republicanism." He, however, found himself 
hard pressed with the fact, that the existence of the 
Commonwealth was exactly coeval with the triumph 
of Independency in England. American Congre- 
gationalists will agree with him, that it " cannot be 
proved," because they perceive that it is self-evident. 
Robinson, in his Answer to Helwisse,^ found him- 
self pressed with the same argument ; and Punch- 
ard remarks, that " it could not but be a difficult 
task to show that their church government was not 
popular." That Robinson, with his clear mind, was 
endeavoring to evade the argument against ecclesi- 
astical democracy, and to make it equivalent to civil 
monarchy, may be clearly seen from the continua- 
tion of his reasoning.^ Our forefathers were sincere, 
loyal monarchists, and brought in the ruling elders 
to make a mixed government. These, centaur-like, 
appear in their system neither one thing nor another, 
and went into disuse just as fast as republican prin- 
ciples advanced in the colonies. Rev. Jonathan 
Mahew*^ says of himself: " And having learnt from 
the Holy Scriptures, that wise, brave, and virtuous 
men were always friends to liberty ; that God gave 
the Israelites a king in his anger, because they had 
not sense and virtue enough to like a free common- 
wealth." Eliot, speaking of the mission of Brad- 
street and Norton to England in 1662, says : ^ "It 
was well known that they were actuated by repub- 
lican sentiments, and were Puritans of a strict 
denomination, with no kind of reverence for bishops 
18* 



210 INDEPENDENCY. 

or 7tohlesP Letchford, in his Plain Dealing,^ com- 
pares Independency to democracy in civil govern- 
ment. He predicts that the " elective course will 
soon lead to disorder and ruin." He says that he 
and others do knoiu {! !) that it is not fit nor possi- 
ble {! !) to be continued long- in Neiv England (.' / .'). 
John Milton ^^ says : The kings of this world have 
ever instinctively hated the church of God. Is it 
because they fear liberty and equality, or because 
themselves belong to another kingdom ? He says : ^^ 
" King Charles set himself to the removal of those 
men whose doctrine and desire of church discipline 
he feared would be the undoing of his monarchy." 
Henry Jacob ^^ shows that his opponents thought 
that popular church government led to making the 
civil government conform to it. — See Punchard's 
View, 240—243. 

^ Page 3. sin Han. ii. 411. ^ Jb. 125. ^ jb. jii. 379^ i^ 
Punchard's Hist. 337, 340; and Works, iii. 134—138. ^ lb. 347— 
349. 7 In Eliot, Biog. Diet. 321. ^ jb. 82. ^ In Hist. Soc. Col. 
series iii. vol. iii. 127. ^^ Eikonoklastes, 132. ^^ lb. 134. ^^Jxi 
Han. i. 222. 



Whoever wishes to learn what means were used 
to put down Independency in England should con- 
sult Hanbury, vol. ii. 218 — 220, and vol. iii. lOl, and 
learn it from the pens of their opponents, particularly 
Baillie, who invoked a Scotch army, fifteen thousand 
strong, to give force to Presbyterian arguments in 
the Westminster Assembly. He complains that 
tJie " Independents there plead for toleration for 
others as well as themselves " ! ! 



INSTALLATION. 211 

INDIFFERENTS to be decided by the church, not 
by rulers. — Lord Brooke shows/ that, if indifferent 
matters are to be decided by church rulers, they will 
soon decide all things indifferent to be absolutely 
necessary. It was thus that they decreed the abso- 
lute necessity of the habits, ceremonies, &c., and 
enforced conformity under the most severe penalties. 
Bradshaw says:^ " Those who have power to join 
to the sacrament of baptism the sign of the cross, 
have authority also, no doubt, to join to the sacra- 
ment of the Supper, flesh, broth, butter, or cheese." 

^ In Han. ii. 120, 121. ^ Treatise on Divine Worship, 10. 

INSTALLATION, is it indispensable ?— Coiion 
Mather ^ says : " Ministers coming from England 
were usually re-ordained ; but, some of them scru- 
pling, the churches have elected them and embraced 
them, and so, solemnizing the transaction with fast- 
ing and prayer, have enjoyed them to all evangelical 
intents and purposes, without their being re-ordained 
at all. 

* Magnalia, ii. 209. 

INSTALLATION, mode of. — Cotton Mather ' 
says, a minister removing from another church, " a 
day of prayer is kept, the choice renewed, and the 
charge accepted, in the presence of delegates from 
other churches; and no further imposition of hands 
is used in his instalment. He says ^ that " installa- 
tions are conducted as ordinations, except the im- 
position of hands." Cambridge Platform ' intimates 
that imposition of hands should be used in installa- 



212 JESUS CHRIST. 

tion, since Paul twice received it from Ananias. — 
See Upham's Rat. Dis. 124 ; Punchard's View, 166. 
See Imposition of Hands. 

I Rat, Dis. 41, 42. ^ ib. 169, 170. =^ Chap. ix. sect. 7. 

INSTITUTIONS OF THE GOSPEL, what.— 
Owen, in iiis Catechism,^ enumerates the principal 

of these to be — "calling, gathering, and settling 
churches, with their officers ; prayer; singing psalms ; 
preaching ; sacraments ; and discipline." 

^ In Works, xix. 502. 

INTERMISSIONS, Sabbath, hoio spent in New 
England. — Cotton Mather ^ says : " The more faith' 
ful and watchful pastors have been put upon using 
their contrivances that their employments may be 
most serviceable to the interests of holiness. It has 
been proposed, that repetitions of, or conferences on, 
the word of Christ, may be some of their employ- 
ments." Thus they were in advance of Raikes in 
devising virtual Sabbath-schools. — See Sabbath- 
schools. 

1 Rat. Dis. 45. 

JESUS CHRIST is the only lawgiver to his church. 
This is one of the first principles of Congregational- 
ism. It is directly asserted by Henry Jacob, in his 
Divine Beginning of Christ's Visible Church.^ 
John Davenport, in his Power of Congi'egational 
Churches,^ says : " The absolute supremacy of power 
is in Christ. That which the Church hath is only 
delegated from Christ." — See Legislation. 
* In Han. i. 228. « Ib. ii. 64. 



KEYS. 213 

JURISDICTION of churches in the people. — John 
Wise, in his Quarrel of the Churches Espoused/ 
says: "Our New England government grants a 
juridical power to the fraternity, and makes them 
the proper judges in all ecclesiastical cases and 
administrations." The Answer of the Boston Synod 
of 1662 says:^ "Every church ... hath received 
from the Lord Jesus Christ full power and authority 
ecclesiastical, within itself, regularly to administer 
all the- ordinances of Christ, and is not under any 
other ecclesiastical jurisdiction whatever." — See 
Churches subject to no external jurisdiction ; Con- 
sociations; Councils; Inbbpbnb-ency of churches ; 
Synods ; Keys ; Power, church; and the like topics. 

1 Page 108. 2 Pages 113, 114. 

KEYS, power of what* — Hooker says : ^ " By 
power of the keys we understand the power of ordi- 
nation, excommunication, &c." He shows ^ that 
even Rutherford admitted that an isolated church 
had the power of excommunication in itself. John 
Cotton says : ^ " The keys of the kingdom are the 
ordinances which Christ hath instituted to be admin- 
istered in his church." 

1 Survey, part i. 231. ^ ib, 240. ^ Keys of Heaven, 20. 

KEYS granted only to embodied churches, — Good- 
win^ says: " The yw5 executionis, Matt, xviii. 16, 
Christ doth not give it to the saints and officers 
simply, but as formed up into bodies. Matt. xvi. 
holdeth that they are to be saints making confession, 
as Peter did; but Matt, xvrii. holdeth forth how that 



214 KEYS. 

these saints be formed up into several bodies or 
churches, and so to execute this power.'' The whole 
of the fourth chapter of his second book is on this 
point. Davenport, in his Power of Congregational 
Churches," shows that this doctrine follows from the 
fact that all they do as embodied churches proceeds 
from this power. Hooker^ shows that "a church 
congregational is the first power of the keys."' He 
says, however, that it was the question of that day, 
** whether all ecclesiastical power be impaled, im- 
propriated, and rightly taken into the presbytery 
(i.e. the bench of elders in a church) alone : causing 
great thoughts concerning presbytery, how shall they 
retain their power ? and the people, how shall they 
retain their rights ? " (See Elmers.) Owen, in his 
Nature of a Gospel Church, chap, iii.^ says : '• The 
keys were originally given to the whole church, in 
distinction from the officers of it," John Cotton ^ 
says : The power of the keys is a liberty purchased 
to the church by the blood of Christ, knd should 
not be parted with at a less price. 

- C^.. Got. 55. * In Han. ii. 63, 64. ' PfeL to Surrey. * In 
Work?, XX. 3S9. ^ Way of tlie Chnrches, 50. 

EETS, poiaer of, claimed far particular churches 
with elders, — This was strenuously maintained by 
Goodwin.^ The presence of elders with the church 
was held to be necessary, because the power to re- 
ceive, excommunicate, &C., was supposed to be with 
them, while they might not do it without the " free 
consent of the brotherhood.'' " Cotton, in his Keys,^ 
ai^ues this same point, placing the key of power in 



KINGSHIP OF CHRIST. 215 

the brethren, and ^ the key of authority in the elders. 
Thus, here, as everywhere else, we find a guarding 
against democracy, by placing the executive power 
wholly in the elders. So Cambridge Platform^ 
places the power of office in the elders, and the 
power of privilege in the brotherhood (see chapters 
V. and X.) ; making the elders subject, however, to 
the power of the church " in case of mal-adminis- 
tration." Eaton and Taylor maintain^ that the 
power of government is distinctly given to the 
church : " Tell it to the church." Also the power 
of excommunication was in the church, and not even 
in the apostle. So, too, argues Isaac Chauncy, in 
his Divine Institution of Congregational Churches.'' 
He shows conclusively that the keys were given to 
the church through Peter, as it is usual to name one 
or more individuals in all charters. — See Elders, 
is one or more necessary to church action ? 

* Ch. Gov. Ill — 116. ^ See Bradshaw's Eng. Puritanism, in 
Neal, i. 249. ^ pages 36—48. ^ Jb, 49—54. ^ VsL^es 28, 41. 
6 Defence, 85, 95. ^ Pages 102—104. 

KINGSHIP OF GBBIST immediate.— Goodwin' 
shows that this should be maintained, " not merely 
as our liberty, but as Christ's prerogative, which we, 
as his courtiers, are not to see encroached upon or 
diminished." Consequently, he holds that none 
have a right to direct us contrary to God's com- 
mands, nor have we a right to obey such wicked 
directions. — See Jesus Christ is the only lawgiver 
to his church, 

' Ch. Gov. 258. 



216 KNEELING. 

KNEELING, why not practised at communion, — 
Robinson, in his Answer to Hall,* asks : " Where 
learned you your devout kneeling to or before the 
bread, but from that error of transubstantiation?'' 
Neal ^ represents the Puritans as excepting against 
the injunction of kneeling at the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper, as not agreeable to the example of 
Christ, having no foundation in antiquity, and having 
been grossly abused to idolatry. He represents 
them ° as declaring that it arose from the notion of 
the transubstantiation of the elements; — that the 
Papists admit they would be guilty of idolatry in 
kneeling before them, if they did not really believe 
them to be the real body and blood of Christ ; and 
that it is a gross hypocrisy for us to pretend more 
holiness, reverence, and devotion in receiving the 
sacrament than the apostles, who received it from 
the immediate hand and person of Christ himself. 
Lord King, in his Inquiry,^ shows from the fathers, 
that, in whatever other position it was received in 
the ancient churches, it could not have been kneeling. 
Cartwright, in his Answer to Whitgift,^ shows that 
there is the same dangerous tendency to idolatry 
in kneeling at the sacrament as in receiving the 
wafer-cake. 

Bradshaw, in his Treatise on "Worship and Cere- 
monies,^ advocates the same sentiments, showing 
that, if it is in reverence to God, it is will-worship, 
i.e. not required ; and, if in reverence to the bread, 
it is idolatry. In the Dispute concerning Kneeling 
at the Sacraments, published in 1608, it is asserted,"^ 
that '* kneeling in* reverence to the bread and wine 



LAWS. 217 

would have justified the angel and Peter in receiv- 
ing homage out of reverence," 

^ InPunchard's Hist. 379; and Han. i. 194; and Works, iii.411. 
2 Neal's Puritans, i. 107. ^ lb. 246, 247. ^ Part ii. 113. ^ Page 
165. 6 Pages 90—105. ^ Page 162. 

LAWS, New England^ cowerning religion, — 
Lambert, in his History of the Colony of New 
Haven, says^ the Plantation Covenant was for more 
than a year their only civil and religious compact; 
in this they agreed " to be ordered by the rules 
which the Scriptures hold forth." Eliot, in his 
Ecclesiastical History of Massachusetts,^ asserts, 
that, soon after 1651, it was ordered by General 
Court, that no minister should be called into office 
without the approbation and allowance of some of 
the magistrates, as well as some of the neighbor- 
churches. In a petition of the Church and Town 
of Woburn in 1553,^ the petitioners complain of a 
late order of court, " that those who preach con- 
stantly be approbated, either by a council of neigh- 
bor-churches, or by the county court." (See further, 
under Approbation to preach) In 1695 it was 
enacted, that, when a parish do not concur with a 
church in the choice of a pastor, the church may 
call a council ; and, if they approve, he shall be the 
minister of the parish. This was argued in point 
in the Springfield case. (See Answer to Hampshire 
Narrative, 37.) In the Answer of the General Court 
to Dr. Child and others, in 1769,^ they assert that, 
according to the fundamentals of Massachusetts, 
" all persons, orthodox in judgment and not scan- 
19 



218 LEaiSLATION. 

dalous in life, may gather into a church state. 
Zabdiel Adams, in his Answer to a Treatise on 
Church Government, admits that a parish may refuse 
the result of a council negativing their dismission 
of a minister ; but, in that case, they must pay his 
salary according to contract. These are a few of 
the things that were of old in New England religious 
laws. — See Acts and Laws of his Majesty's Pro- 
vince in Massachusetts Bay, published in 1742, 
pages 14, 15, 17, 18, 27, 36, 41, 68, 70, 81, 94, 153, 
154, 155, 156, 211, 213, 215, 216, 231, 264, 265, 266, 
267, 324, 331, 332. 

^ Page 44. ^ In Mass. Hist. Soc. Col. series i. vol. x. 25. ^ lb. 
series iii. vol. i. 35 — 42. "* Hutchinson's Mass. Col. of Papers, 201. 

Dr. Perry's forthcoming work will doubtless con- 
tain much valuable information concerning present 
New England ecclesiastical laws. 

LEGISLATION not the prerogative of churches. 
Punchard, in his History,^ shows that this was a 
fundamental doctrine of some of the purest early 
dissenting churches,^ — as the Paterines, who say, 
" a church has no power to frame any constitu- 
tions;" and the Albigenses and Waldenses, who 
declare " that Christ has given his church no autho- 
rity to make laws for the government of his people." 
Neal,^ in Keply to Hooker ("the judicious"), says: 
" As far as any church is governed by the laws and 
precepts of the New Testament, so far it is the 
church of Christ ; but when it sets up its own by- 
laws as terms of commuion, or works the policy of 
the civil magistrate into its constitution, so far it is 



LEGISLATION. 219 

a creature of the state." Cotton says : ' " All legis- 
lative power in the church is in Christ, and not 
from him derived to any other; James iv. 12; Isa. 
xxxiii. 22. He only can create and ordain a true 
constitution of a church estate." Samuel Mather 
says : ^ " I may not fear to assert that a great part 
of those disorders which have arisen in the Chris- 
tian world have been by usurping legislative power 
over the churches." Owen, in his Original of 
Churches, chap, ii.^ asserts that no legislative eccle- 
siastical power is left to men, and that assuming 
such power is dangerous. Watts, in his Founda- 
tion of a Christian Church,^ maintains that churches 
may not appoint any new rules of admission. 
Welde, in his Answer to Rathband,^ shows it to 
be a principle of the New England churches, " that 
the church has no power to make laws, but only 
to observe those laws which Christ has given and 
commanded." He, however, shows, against the 
cavils of his opponent, that they have a power to 
determine needful things for themselves, but not 
to legislate. Mitchell ^ says, some think that it is 
expedient to have written rules of discipline and 
practice ; but care should be* taken, in forming them, 
that they be not of a le'gislative character, but only 
declarative. Congregationalism as Contained in 
the Scriptures, &c.,^ says: "This description of a 
church (in the Platform) excludes from it every 
thing of the nature of legislation."^ — See Creeds. 

^ Pages 102, 109. ^ Puritans, i. 207. ^ Keys, 65. * Apology, 
29. MVorks, xx. 92. « Works, iii. 235. ^ in Han, ii. 321. 
« Guide, 139. » Page 6. 



220 LICENSE. 

LETTER OF DISMISSION ; has every member, 
not under discipline, a right to one ? — See Affinity ; 
Dismission. 

The principles laid down in these articles indicate 
that he has a right to a dismission, if not disciplina- 
bU') but not to avoid merited discipline. Nor has 
he a right to any other recommendation than the 
church can conscientiously give him, based on all 
the facts in the case, whereupon the church applied 
to are to exercise their discretion as to receiving 
him. But, unless the church proceed immediately 
to discipline, he has a right to dismission without 
unnecessary delay. 

LIBERTY of conscience to be allowed. — Thomas 
Goodwin ^ expatiates largely on this point, assert- 
ing " that saints, or persons professing Christ, 
though they differ, yet, being in Christ, they ought 
not to judge or despise, but forbear one another;" 
enforcing his arguments by the commands to bear 
the infirmities of the weak, love one another, &c. 
He takes an appeal from the law of persecution 
to the law of God, and sues out execution for the 
day of judgment. — See Conscience, Toleration, 
Fellowship, Creeds, Uniformity, Union. 

1 Ch. Gov. 399—408. 

LICENSE to preach. — Formerly, individual pas- 
tors introduced ^hom they thought proper into 
their pulpits, and churches made long trial of the 
gifts and fitness of candidates for the pastoral office. 
In 1705, an unsuccessful effort was made to have 



LICENSE. 221 

none thus employed as candidates, who are not 
"recommended by a testimonial under the hands 
of some association." ^ Wise ^ strenuously main- 
tains that this would be an infringement on the 
rights of the churches. Cotton Mather^ regards 
the want of a formal licensing power as a defect, 
and quotes his Proposals, published twenty years 
before, but says : " They are not to this day (1726) 
fully executed." From the Records of Boston As- 
sociation, it appears that the late Dr. Gray of Rox- 
bury was the first approbated by that body, in 
1792 ; and that it was matter of long deliberation 
whether they should proceed to give such approba- 
tion according to the vote of the Convention of 
1790. March 15, 1804, that association appointed 
a committee "to prepare rules to be observed by 
association in future, with respect to the examina- 
tion and approbation of candidates for the ministry." 
The subsequent reports of this committee, and the 
doings of the association thereon, reveal to the prac- 
tised eye much of the workings of " the hand of 
Joab," on the question whether association should 
grant license^ or merely approbation. It was decided 
that "the moderator shall put (to the association) 
this question, — Do you approbate?" and that the 
" credential" shall be of the following "tenor: . . . 
We approve as qualified for the work of the gospel- 
ministry . . . ; we accordingly recommend him to the 
acceptance and employment of the churches." 

A highly esteemed correspondent, who has de- 
voted much labor, and brought uncommon resources 
of learning, to the investigation of the usages of 

19* 



222 LICENSE. 

the churches, writes substantially thus : According 
to a fundamental principle of Congregationalism 
and long-established usage in New England, license 
to preach is the express or implied authority granted 
by a church to preach to them the gospel. They 
refused submission to or acknowledgment of any 
assumed authority as a pre-requisite to the office 
of preaching the gospel in any church. Yet they 
prudently availed themselves of such information 
from good and discerning men, and especially settled 
ministers, as might aid them in coming to a wise 
decision in licensing to preach to them on any oc- 
casion of need or convenience. Such letters of 
credit or approbation^ coming at first from one or 
more ministers in their individual capacity, in pro- 
cess of time came from ministers convened in asso- 
ciations, whose approval was thus expressed, rather 
for convenience than from a designed assumption 
of power to themselves, or a denial of it to the 
churches. The import of such approbation w^as 
not understood, either by associations or churches, 
as conferring a* power or a right to preach, or in 
any manner qualifying the individual whom they 
thus approved fpr the office of a public teacher. 
No association has formally claimed the right to 
license. None could vindicate such a claim by 
any authority. The term license now extensively 
current, as if signifying a grant by associational 
authority to preach, is unknown to the records of 
the older associations, except as a recent usurper, 
or, as in the Boston Association (the oldest in the 
country), under virtual condemnation. The Men- 



LITURGY. 223 

don Association, which has just completed its first 
century, is yet a stranger to giving license to preach, 
and scrupulously refrains from the use of language 
importing an authority which belongs exclusively 
to churches. Still more recently has sprung up the 
practice of licensing for a limited term ; a practice 
for which there is no authority, unless the term 
license is used, as it is in some associations, to 
signify a mere recommendation, which the receiver 
is not allowed to use after the expiration of the 
limited time. — Mitchell^ and the Congregational 
ManuaP now claim licensing as the right of mini- 
sters in their associated capacity ; but the practice 
is of recent origin. — See Approbation to preach; 
Preach, who may ? Prophesying. 

* Wise's Quarrel of the Churches Espoused, 120. ^ lb. 121 — 
128. 3 Rat. Dis. 117, 121. ^ Guide, 232. ^ Page 29. 

LIMITS of churches, — Goodwin^ limits them to 
so many as can meet in one place, because "the 
same assembly is to meet for discipline that meets 
for worship ; because of the time that is instituted 
for their worship, viz. the Lord's day, and because 
of the duties of the elders to preach and rule;" 
with several other considerations. This is the 
universal sentiment of Congregationalists. — See 
Church, may one have branches ? Churches distinct 
bodies. 

1 Ch. Gov. 67. 

LITURGY.— Cotton Mather' shows that "the 
New England churches have no liturgy composed 



224 lord's supper. 

for them, much less imposed upon them. . . . Our 
Saviour and his apostles never provided any prayer- 
book but the Bible for us. . . . The first planters 
hoped that the second coming of our Saviour will 
arrive before there will be received among them any 
liber officialis (book of authority) but the Sacred 
Scriptures." He shows that liturgies were invented 
when the bishops, assembled in councils, were many 
of them so illiterate that they must get another to 
subscribe their names for them, 

^ Rat. Dis. 46—52. 

LORD'S PRATER: ive are not tied to the form^ 
hut only to the spirit of it, — Greenwood, in his Answer 
to Giffard,^ says : " Christ did not say. Say these 
words by rote, but after this manner therefore pray 
ye." The adverb is one of similitude : Christ 
teaches to ask for the object of individual wants, as 
a child asks bread of a father. • This was a matter 
of long dispute between the Nonconformists and 
the Episcopalians ; the former maintaining that 
there was no necessity of having the words even of 
the Lord's Prayer imposed on men. Increase 
Mather, in his Order of the Churches of New Eng- 
land Justified,^ shows that it is lawful, but not re- 
quired, to use the words of the Lord's Prayer. 

* In Han. i. 68, 69. ^ Pages 117—136 

LORD'S SUPPER, a church ordinance. — Good- 
win^ argues this point at length, endeavoring to 
prove it by necessary inference from other Congre- 
gational principles, and by the Holy Scriptures^ 



lobd's supper. 225 

He maintained that it must be in a congregated 
chm-ch, and by a preaching elder (see further on Must 
it be administered by an ordained minister ?) ; — that 
the recipient must be a member of some organized 
church ; and that a number of congregated church 
members, not with a church, have no right to this 
ordinance. 

1 Ch. Gov. 350—356. 

LORD'S SUPPER, should it be administered to 
any who are not members of churches ? « — The Answer 
of the New England Elders to the Nine Positions,^ 
shows that the means of judging of piety are want- 
ing, unless the communicants join themselves to 
some church. Goodwin^ says: "One apostle and 
one other man could not receive the Lord's Supper 
together, because they could not make a church, 
1 Cor. X. Allin and Shepard, in their Answer to 
Ball,^ agree that there are privileges which belong 
to a believer as such, but not instituted privileges. 
These only are rightly to be obtained in the way of 
the institution. Dr. "Watts, in his Terms of Corri- 
munion. Quest, vi.,^ maintains that those not mem- 
bers of churches ordinarily ought not to come to 
the communion, but that there are exceptions. A 
church may refuse to receive a troublesome Chris- 
tian (?) to membership, and yet admit him to com- 
munion ! ! By further reference to the Answer of 
the New England Elders to the Nine Positions, as 
quoted in Hanbury,* we find them declaring; 
" Church communion we hold only with church 
members, admitting to the fellowship of the seals 



226 lord's supper. 

known and approved and orderly recommended 
members of any true church." This they maintain 
by seven considerations, among which is this: They 
that are incapable of the censures are incapable of 
the privileges. Those not in covenant are incapa- 
ble of the censures, therefore of the seals as privi- 
leges. 

1 Page 70. 2 Ch. Gov. 233. ' In Han. iii. 40. ^ Works, iii. 
256. 5 Vol. ii. 27. 

LORD'S SUPPER not for the known wicked.— 
Johnson, in his Treatise on the Reformed Churches,^ 
quotes from Chrysostom : " No small punishment 
hangeth over you, if, knowing a man to be wicked, 
ye suffer him to be a partaker at this table : his 
blood shall be required at your hands." One of the 
Queries to the Church of Scotland ^ is this : " If he 
that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and 
drinketh his own judgment; and all English souls 
are bound to eat and drink . . . at sixteen, who sees 
not . . . that the body of the people are compelled 
by law to eat and drink, at sixteen, their own judg- 
ment?" Cotton Mather^ argues that they should 
not be admitted who do not give evidence of se- 
rious piety, upon which " all turns." Upon this 
point there was, however, much doubt and diver- 
sity in his day. They, however, agreed that the 
weakest Christian, if sincere, should not be dis- 
carded. The half-way covenant doctrine led con- 
sistently to the admission of the unregenerate to 
the communion. 

1 In Han. i. 316. « lb. ii. 247. » Rat. Dis. 82—84. 



lord's supper. 227 

LORD'S SUPPER should not be privately admini- 
stered. — Sparke and Travers, in their conference 
with the Bishop of Winchester/ objected to private 
communion. Cotton Mather ^ says : '^ It being a 
main scope of the Lord's Supper to be a seal of 
that mystery, the communion of saints (?), the 
churches of New England judge it not so proper 
for one or two, by a bedside or the like, to celebrate 
thi ordinance." 

^ Neal's Puritans, i. 167. ^ Rat. Dis. 102. 

LORD'S SUPPER, should it be administered by 
any but ordained ministers ? — The Savoy Confes- 
sion ^ says : " No persons may administer the sacra- 
ment but such as are ordained thereto." And this 
is agreeable to present, and, so far as I can learn, 
past practice of Congregationalists. How much of 
the principle of apostolical succession and holy 
unction is countenanced by this practice, may be a 
question. Samuel Mather ^ quotes Fabritius, with 
apparent approbation : " If any man, even a laic, 
be appointed by the church to administer the sacra- 
ment, if he does it, he does nothing but his duty, 
and neither offends against the faith nor against 
good order." Andrew Fuller, in his Address to a ' 
Young Minister,^ says : " Ordination seems origi- 
nally intended for guarding against bad characters. 
I have therefore been much concerned to see the 
practice of administering the Lord's Supper obtain 
prior to it, which tends to set it aside, and will, I am 
persuaded, be the source of many mishaps in the 
churches." Yet on the same page, in his Reply to 



228 lord's supper. 

a Baptist Church in Edinburgh, he says : " I had 
long been of the opinion that there was no Scrip- 
ture for confining the administration of the Lord's 
Supper to a minister. ... I could wish that every 
church, when destitute of a pastor, would attend 
to the Lord's Supper among themselves." — See 
Seals ; Ministers, may they administer seals^ SfC. ? 

* In Neal's Puritans, ii. 179. ^ Apology, 61. ^ Works, ii. 662. 

LORD'S SUPPER, is baptism an indispensable 
pre-requisite to ? — Andrew Fuller, in his Letter to 
Ward,^ argues the affirmative from Christ's require- 
ment of baptism. Robert Hall, in his Terms of 
Communion, everywhere maintains the negative. 
1 Works, ii. 667, 668. 

LORD'S SUPPER, should the bread and ivine in 
it be consecrated? — Nathaniel Mather, in his Dis- 
cussion on a Pastor's Officiating in Other Churches,^ 
says : " No man should bless and separate the ele- 
ments, so as to make them sacramental, without 
power from Christ, whose work alone it is, by his 
poor minister, to effect that special union, which 
there truly is in the sacrament, between the elements 
and Christ's body and blood." Upham^ speaks of 
the consecration of the sacramental elements in 
prayer, and no wonder, in these days of consecra- 
tion of burial-grounds, and dedication of meeting- 
houses; but the quotation from Nathaniel Mather 
above smells strangely of Rome for a Congrega- 
tional writer of those times. This does not seem 
to have been a subject much discussed by the 



lord's supper. 229 

fathers; but their sentiments on parallel doctrines 
may be seen under the heads Ceremonies, Habits, 
Idolatry, Kneeling. One of the Genevan Dis- 
putants (Peter Carpenter, "a low countrieman ") 
says^ of the consecration of the emblems of the 
Lord's Supper: ^' They are to be condemned who 
attribute some holiness to the signs; and, as for 
those who worship them, these we utterly detest as 
open idolaters." 

1 Page 19. 2 Rat. Dis. 235. ^ Page 164. 

LORD'S SUPPER, how often should it be admi- 
nistered* — Goodwin devotes the fifth chapter of his 
seventh book on Church Government to prove that 
it should be administered every Lord's day. His 
arguments are powerful and ingenious, if not con- 
clusive. He demands a warrant ^ for singling out 
special days for this purpose of attending to a divine 
institution. Cotton Mather^ says: " The time for 
celebrating this ordinance in New England is vari- 
ous, and the pastors reserve the liberty of altering 
the times as they judge fit, upon emergencies." 
Hopkins ^ says : It does not follow from Acts xx. 7, 
that the disciples always came together on the first 
day of the week to break bread. — See Upham's 
Rat. Dis. 236, 237. 

» Page 342. ^ Rat. Dis. 95. ^ System, ii. 347. 

« 

LORD'S SUPPER, we should not neglect^ for 
wrong in others, — This is so plain a principle of 
Scripture that it seems strange that it should ever 
have been lost sight of; yet multitudes seem to 

20 



2^0 LOT. 

feel that they are excused from' obeying Christ 
when they are angry with their brethren. Cam- 
bridge Platform ^ shows that no member should 
punish himself on account of wrong in any of his 
brethren. If discipline is neglected, and the church 
cannot be reformed, they may us^ their liberty to 
withdraw and go to other churches, when they can- 
not remain without continuing in sin, according to 
chapter xiii. section 4. Mitchell ^ shows that such 
a forsaking the communion is a disciplinable of- 
fence. Cotton Mather^ quotes Cambridge Asso- 
ciation, who assert that it is schism and scandal 
to withdraw on account of wrong in others, and 
should be dealt with as unruly and walking disor- 
derly. In Winthrop's Journal ^ is recorded an in- 
stance of the church in Watertown dealing with, 
and excluding a member for thus absenting himself, 
in 1632.— See Upham's Rat. Dis. 143, 144, 237, 
238 ; also Isaac Chauncy's remarks under article 
Suspension. 

^ Chap. xiv. sect. ix. ' Guide, 112—115. ^ Magnalia, ii. 221. 
* Vol. i. 81. 

LOT, when we may lawfully decide by it. — Fox- 
croft, in his Discourse preparatory to the choice of 
a minister,^ recommends the lot where two or more 
candidates divide a people relative to the choice of 
a pastor, " that the iiord may show which he has 
chosen." Cotton, in his Letter to Leavitt,^ says: 
" Carding and choosing valentines are an appeal to 
the lot, in which God is the Disposer." And to 
appeal to him and his immediate providence for 



MAGISTRATES. 231 

the dispensing these ludicra seemeth to me a taking 
of his name in vain. 

1 Pages 24—47. ^ In Hist. Soc. Col. ser. ii. vol. x. 183. 

MAGISTRATES, may they make laws establishing 
religion ? — Burton, in his Answer to Prynne's 
Twelve New Interrogatories,^ says : " Those patri- 
archs and princes of Israel, before the law and 
under the law, from Adam to Christ, never had this 
power or prerogative to make ecclesiastical laws or 
binding canons." He further presses the point,^ 
that neither synods nor parliaments have this power. 
Magistrates are to punish for overt acts, not for 
opinions. Baillie, in his Dissuasive,^ vehemently 
accuses the Independents of esteeming all matters 
of religion free and exempt from the magistrate's 
sword and power. Edwards, in his Gangrsense,* 
represents the Independents of the army as un- 
willing that the Parliament should set up even 
Independent government: they held liberty of con- 
science ; that in matters of religion no man should 
be bound, but every one left to follow his own 
conscience. Cambridge Platform^ encroaches on 
this broad ground : though it maintains the general 
principle, yet it makes a fatal exception, by allow- 
ing magistrates to punish, where the matter is per- 
fectly clear, for heresy and venting corrupt opinions 
that destroy the foundation. It does not here dis- 
tinguish between disturbing the peace and venting 
what the judges say it is clear are pernicious opi- 
nions. Bastvvick, in his Treatise on Church Go- 
vernment,^ accuses the Independents of holding 



232 MAGISTRATES. 

that the magistrate might not inflict corporal pun- 
ishment for matters of religion. It seems that the 
loss of his own ears had riot brought him to his 
senses. Possibly, as his own party came into 
power, he remembered tne maxim, " An eye for 
an eye, and a tooth for a tooth;" adding, — and 
an ear for an ear. Philip Nye, in his lawfulness of 
the Oath of Supremacy,'^ says, " All men are by 
NATURE EQUAL ; " yet he argues the supremacy of 
the king and his government in ecclesiastical affairs. 
Upham, in his Century Sermon,^ informs us that 
Hugh Peters reproved Sir Harry Vane for his con- 
duct towards Mrs. Hutchinson and her company, 
and " plainly insinuated, that, if governors would 
concern themselves only with the things of Csesar, 
the things of God would be more quiet and pros- 
perous." — See Upham, Rat. Dis. 293. See Perse- 
cution; Toleration. 

1 In Han. ii. 408. 2 ib. 414, 415. 3 j^. iii. 150. * lb. 187. 
6 Chap. xvii. ^ In Han. iii. 93. ^ Page 17. » Page 46. 

MAGISTRATES should punish rioters. — This 
was, and is, the universal doctrine of Congregation- 
alists. The Fifteen Propositions to Parliament for 
Gathering Independent Churches ^ has the follow- 
ing: "That such persons who shall disturb the 
people of God, . . . when they are congregated to 
worship him in his ordinances, may be punished 
according to their demerits." 

1 In Han. iii. 248. 

MAGISTRATES, should they have a voice^ as such^ 



MAJORITIES. 233 

in the doings of the churches ? — Cambridge Plat- 
form,^ after denying their power to restrain churches, 
maintains that their help and countenance, when 
it may be had, should not be slighted. As they 
were usually consulted about the formation of new 
churches, no wonder that they took it in dudgeon 
when a church was gathered without their consent, 
as the Massachusetts records abundantly evince. 
All this may, however, be accounted for by their 
loyal attachment to monarchical and magisterial 
government. No American advocates the affirma- 
tive of this question since the consummation of the 
Revolution. 

1 Page 61. 

MAJORITIES have a right to govern in the 
church. — Isaac Chauncy^ says: " Whatever passes 
in the church by a majority of the brethren is a 
church act." Letchford, in his Plain Dealing,^ says: 
" In the Bay, the churches govern each by all the 
members unanimously, or else by the major part, 
wherein every one hath equal vote and superspec- 
tion with their ministers." In Portsmouth, in the 
early part of the last century, the majority of the 
church removed to a new place of worship at 
the north part of the town, while the rest remained, 
and organized themselves into a distinct church. 
The majority retained the name of the First Church.^ 
See Unanimity. 

' Divine Inst. Cong. Churches, 105. * In Mass Hist. Soc. Col. 
series iii. vol. iii. Epist. to the Reader. ^ Eiiot, Biog. Diet. 410, 
art. Rogers, Nathaniel. 
20* 



234 MARRIAaE. 

MAJORITIES, where they ought to forbear exer- 
cising their natural right — Watts, in his Founda- 
tion of a Christian Church,^ shows that the greater 
number must always rule, but that they are, in cer- 
tain cases, under moral obligation not to insist on 
their right; as, for instance, in receiving a new 
member to the church when a portion seem con- 
scientiously dissatisfied. Hopkins^ shows that ma- 
jorities must govern, and minorities ought to rest 
satisfied, gave in cases of conscience, where they 
should protest. See Upham's Ratio Disciplinae, 
145, note. It is understood to have been recently 
decided by a council, in a case in Salem, Mass., 
that a majority have no right to disband a church 
and divide the property. On the one hand, the 
sovereignty of the majority was pleaded ; and, on 
the other, that the majority have no right to repu- 
diate their own covenant engagements. — See 
Church, majority constitute ; Unanimity. 

1 Works, iii, 240, ^ System, ii. 350—352. 

MARRIAGE not the office-work of pastors, — Ro- 
binson, in his Apology,^ says : " We cannot assent 
to the received opinion, and practice answerable, in 
the reformed churches, by which the pastors thereof 
do celebrate marriage publicly and by virtue of their 
office." The pastor's office, he argues, is peculiar to 
the Christian religion, and ought not to be stretched 
to any thing else but what is peculiar to Christians ; 
which marriage is not, being common to them and 
the Gentiles. In his Answer to Hall,^ he objects 
that making it a part of a minister's work is making 



MARRIAGE. 235 

it a sacrament. Jacob's Church Confession, art. 
xxiii.,^ says : " Concerning marriage and burying the 
dead, we believe that they are not actions of a 
church minister, because they are no actions spirit- 
ual, but civil. Neither are ministers called to any 
such business, nor is there so much as one example 
of it in the whole book of God, . . . without which 
warrant we believe it to be unlawful." And this, 
we find,^ was the practice in New England in 1633, 
though they could not make h law to hinder minis- 
ters from marrying, because that would be against 
the common law of England. Letchford^ says: 
" Marriage in New England is by magistrates, and 
not by ministers." So Punchard, in his View, 191. 
The Plymouth Colony laws ^ enacted in 1671, that 
none should be joined in marriage but by magis- 
trates, or such persons as the court should appoint 
where no magistrate is near. 

' In Punchard's Hist. 349, 350 ; and Works, iii. 45. ^ in Han. 
i. 196; and Works, iii. 412. ^ lb. 300. ^ ^yinthrop's Journal, i. 
323. ^ In Hist. Soc. Col. series iii. vol. iii. 94. ^ Page 272. 

MARRIAGE, may it be solemnized hy ministers ? — 
Johnson, in his Christian Plea,^ maintains that the 
requiring of it by ministers, with prescribed liturgies, 
ten led to confirm the Papists in their error of its 
being a sacrament; yet he suggests whether it may 
not be solemnized by ministers as well as others, so 
as it be not imposed upon them, nor observed with 
superstition. Cotton Mather^ asserts that in New 
England, in his day, it was usually solemnized by 
pastors, though formerly it was always done by 



236 MEMBERS. 

magistrates. Massachusetts Province Laws ^ made 
provision for its solemnization by ministers as early 
as 1692. 

1 In Han. i. 319, 320. ^Eat. Dis. Ill, 112. ^ Page 19 (Ed. 
1699), et al. 

MARRIAGE, may it be solemnized on the Lord^s 
day? — Cotton Mather ^ declares that "the churches 
of New England wholly decline them " on that day. 
He quotes Zepperus; Voetius, and an army of 
others, to show that it is wrong to do it on the Sab- 
bath. 

1 Rat. Dis. 112, 113. 

MEETING-HOUSE. — Cotton Mather^ declares 
that this was the term usually employed by New 
England Christians to designate a place of worship, 
but that they did not admit the idea of a holiness 
in places. Isaac Chauncy ^ asserts that " there is 
no just ground from Scripture to apply such a trope 
(as church) to a house for a public assembly." It 
must, however, be admitted that this trope was in 
early use among the churches,^ though I deem it an 
improper use and productive of evil, in conveying a 
false impression of holiness in places. — See Con- 
secrations ; Dedications. 

^ Rat. Dis. S, ^ Divine Inst. Cong. Churches, 2. ^ See Lord 
King's Enquiry, part i. 4, 5. 

MEMBERS, churchy should consist of experimental 
Christians. — Robinson, in his Apology,^ says that 
it behoveth every one to believe and " know (?) that 



MEMBERS. 237 

he is a true Christian," before he can hope to please 
God in the performance of this or that particular 
Christian work. Burton, in his Protestation Pro- 
tested,^ says : " A particular church, rightly collected 
and constituted, consists of such as are living mem- 
bers of Christ the head." Hooker, in his Survey,^ 
answers Rutherford, who plead that nothing more 
was necessary to admission, except that they pro- 
fess before men the faith, desire the seals, and crave 
fellowship with the visible church, saying : " The 
apostle commanded to turn away from such as, 
having the form of godliness, deny the power 
thereof." The Rejoinder to Prynne's Reply ^ says: 
" The matter of a church should be saints. The 
apostle wrote to the churches as saints." Isaac 
Chauncy^ says the elders ought to inquire of the 
candidates the reason of their hope, whether it be 
grounded on the fundamentals of Christian doc- 
trine; and whether their conversation answer to 
their profession. Increase Mather, in his Vindica- 
tion of the Order of tlje New England Churches,^ 
says : " A church ought to consist of true believers." 
Pierce, in his Vindication of Dissenters,'^ says : 
" Wickliffe defined* a church to consist only of per- 
sons predestinated." With the above principles 
agree Cotton's Plea for the New England Churches, 
in Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, i. 370, 
371 ; Increase Mather's Disquisition on Ecclesiasti- 
cal Councils, preface, vi. ; Propositions to Parlia- 
ment, in Han. iii. 247; Congregational Union of 
England and Wales, Principles of Discipline, ib. 
600; Richard Mather's Church Government and 



238 MEMBEKS. 

Church Covenant, 9; Cotton's Way of the Churches, 
57; Punchard's History, 47, 109; Cambridge Plat- 
form, chap. xii. sect. 2 ; and Owen's Nature of a 
Gospel Church, in Works, xx. 357; with multis 
aliis. — See Upham's Kat. Dis. 51 — 54, and Pun- 
chard's View, 38, 44. See next article ; also Half- 
way Covenant. 

1 In Han. i. 384 ; and Works, iii. 65. ^ ib. ii. 73. 3 part i. 32. 
4 Page 3. ^Div. Inst. Cong. Churches, 106, 107. ^ Page 13. 
7 Pages 4—6. 

MEMBERS satisfy the church at admission. — 
Richard Mather ^ says : Paul was not received till 
the church was satisfied of his conversion. And,^ 
The church have a right to choose both their officers 
and brethren. (True, if they proceed according to 
the rule, and receive or reject as Christ does. The 
churches are the earthly judges to admit or reject 
him.) He quotes ^ Zepperus, De Politia Ecclesia, 
and R. Parker, Politia EcclesisB, showing that the 
reformed churches received their baptized children 
only when they professed piety, and were pro- 
pounded in the assembly. Cotton, in his Holiness 
of Church Members, says : ^ The church . . . can- 
not lawfully receive members, . . . but such as are, 
in a charitable discretion, esteemed saints by calling. 
In his Keys^ he says the brethren of the church 
have power and liberty of propounding any just ex- 
ception against any such as offer themselves to be 
admitted into their communion ; and he quotes the 
case of Saul, and the proposition of Peter, con- 
cerning Cornelius : " Can any forbid water ? " The 



MEMBERS. 239 

Saint's Apology® says: The matter of this is a 
company of saints of whom . . . the church that 
admits them ought to judge of every one of them, 
that Christ has begun a good work in them, and 
will finish it." The Low Country Exiles, in their 
Confession, art. xxiv., say : ^ " Christ hath given 
power to receive in or cut off any member to the 
whole body together, in any Christian congrega- 
tion ; " by which they mean covenant-church. Dr. 
Stiles, in his Convention Sermon,^ says : " There 
was never an instance of admission to the churches 
without the votes of the brethren," because of the 
spirit of liberty in the churches. The authors of 
Gospel Order Revived say : ^ A church has no 
more right to debar those who refuse to relate their 
Christian experience, than to require oaths and 
subscriptions and conformity to a thousand more 
ceremonies. But this was never the generally 
received doctrine. From Upham's Life of Sir 
Henry Vane the Younger ^^ we learn that Win- 
throp maintained " that the churches had power to 
receive or reject at discretion ; " but Vane thought 
it was " only at the discretion of Christ." Cam- 
bridge Platform, chap. xii. sect. 22 ; Hooker's Sur- 
vey, part i. 47, 54, 93 ; Owen's Original of Churches, 
in Works, xx. 185 ; and Watts's Foundation of a 
Christian Church, in Works, iii. 200, advocate the 
necessity of their satisfying the members of perso- 
nal piety. 

i Apology, 18. 2 lb. 23. 3 ib. 34, 35. * Page 24. ° Page 38. 
« In Han. ii. 231. ^ ib. i. 95. s p^ge 64. » Page 8. ^^ In 
Sparks's Am. Biog. iv, 152, 153. 



240 MEMBERS. 

MEMBERS, examination of^ for admission. — 
Welde, in his Answer to Rathband,^ shows how 
these were conducted, — by the elders in private 
with the more bashful, and by a public relation 
with those that were able. And though some few 
be dissatisfied, they used to submit to the rest, and 
sit down satisfied, unless their reasons be such as 
may convince the church. (See Majorities; Mi- 
norities.) Hooker in his Survey,^ describes the 
method of applying to the elders, who propound 
them, if, on inquiry, they consider them fit. The 
church should then repair, and inquire of them, in 
separate companies, and see if they live in no 
known sin, and can give a reason of the hope that 
is in them. They may converse with the women 
privately, though women may speak publicly to 
give a reason of their hope, and confess their sins. 
Increase Mather, in his Vindication,^ shows that 
they ought to be tried ; but their examination 
should be so tender that the weakest Christian 
may be admitted. Eliot (in his Ecclesiastical His- 
tory of New England, in Historical Society's Col- 
lection, series i. vol. ix. 3), and Neal (History of 
New England, i. 273 — 275), treat this subject es- 
sentially in the same way. 

* In Han. ii. 302. ^ Part iii. 4—6. ^- Page 17, 19. 

ME]\IBERS, church ; mode of 7'eceiving. — Cotton 
Mather ^ describes this to be " by vote of t-he church, 
and assenting to the covenant." Ames, in his 
Marrow of Sacred Divinity,^ says : " None are 
rightly admitted to the church but by confession of 



MEMBERS. 241 

faith and promise of obedience." Letchford, in his 
Plain Dealing,^ shows the manner to have been 
much as at the present day, save that the men 
usually declare the mode of their conversion in 
public, and the women have the relations of their 
experience read, as taken by the elders at their ex- 
aminations. He asserts^ that the members were 
voted into the church at the time that they were 
admitted. Morton, in his New England Memo- 
rial,^ says: "Some were admitted by expressing 
their consent to the written Confession of Faith 
and Covenant ; others did answer questions about 
the principles of religion, that were publicly pro- 
pounded to theni ; some did present their confession 
in writing, which was read for them ; and some, 
that were able and willing, did make their confes- 
sion in their own words and way." See Upham's 
Rat. Dis. 98. — See Confessions; Covenant; 
Creeds. 

1 Rat. Dis. 91. ^ Page 141. ^ i^ Hist. Soc. Col. series iii. vol. 
iii. 67, 68. ^ lb. 71. 6 p^ge 146. 

MEMBERS, scandalous^ not received by recommen- 
dation from other churches. — Richard Mather ^ says 
those emigrants who are known to be godly are all 
admitted to some church on their own desire^ unless 
they have given offence by their walk : in this case, 
they must give evidence of repentance. Hooker^ 
shows, that, if two or three witnesses show a 
recommended member to be scandalous, he is to be 
rejected. 

» Ch. Gov. and Ch. Cov. 8. ^ Survey, part i, 241. 
21 



242 MEMBERS. 

MEMBERS, removing ; should they he examined^ 
confess, and covenant anew ? — Richard Mather^ af- 
firms that they should ; " for the former church may- 
have erred in receiving them." Hooker^ says they 
may be received v^'ithout, if their praise is in all the 
churches ; or the church may examine, and, if they 
are scandalous, should reject them. Winthrop^ 
shows that Cotton was thus examined when he was 
received to the church in Boston. Mitchell ^ declares 
the right to examine, but says that it is not generally 
practised. Milton^ says the covenant should be 
repeated, unless the church have ample testimonials 
from some other orthodox church. — See Profession 
of faith, 

^ Ch. Gov. and Ch. Gov. 30. ^ Surrey, part iii. 7. ^ Journal, 
i. 110. -* Guide, 224, 225. ^ Chris. Doc. ii. 202, 203. 

MEMBERS remove ivith consent, — Welde^ shows 
Rathband that they should first consult the church 
with whom they are in covenant, but the church 
never holds one a member against his will. He 
shows that, in extraordinary cases, there should be 
a council ; but the church cannot act against their 
own consciences, and say they are satisfied when 
they are not. Cambridge Platform ^ says : " They 
who are joined with consent may not depart with- 
out consent, unless forced thereto. If a member's 
departure be manifestly unsafe and sinful, the church 
may not consent thereto ; for, in so doing, they 
should partake of his sin. If the case be doubtful, 
... it seemeth best to leave the matter to God, and 
not forcibly to detain him." Isaac Chauncy ^ says : 



MEMBERS. 



243 



''A member may not depart to non-communion, or 
to the communion of another church, without the 
leave of the church of which he is a member. Such 
a deserter is a felo de se, and doth disfranchise and 
excommunicate himself." See Upham's Rat. Dis. 
147; Punchard's View, 173. — See Affinity; Dis- 
mission ; Withdrawing. 



1 In Han. ii. 324. 
Churches, 116, 117. 



' Chap. xiii. sect. 2, 3. ^ Divine Inst. Cong. 



MEMBERS, may they ever be received from other 
churches without dismission and recommendation ? — 
Increase Mather, in his Vindication,^ shows that 
dismission and recommendation are scriptural and 
reasonable, and that " a church ought not to receive 
a member from another church, without endeavors 
of mutual satisfaction of the churches concerned." 
I. Chauncy ^ says : If, upon the use of all due 
means, the church will grant no dismission, the 
member refused may join another church as a non 
member. Cotton Mather, in his Ratio Disciplinse,^ 
lays down a rule for a case which he says '^ perhaps 
never happened," in which a church refuse to receive 
a member where a council advise to it, viz. that he 
be received to some other church in the neighbor- 
hood. Cleveland, in his Narrative of the Conduct 
of the Fourth Church in Ipswich,^ quotes from 
Watts's Foundation of a Christian Church : " If 
particular persons cannot agree with the major part, 
they may withdraw, if the church refuse to dismiss 
them; for Christian churches must have all voluntary 
members, and are not to be turned into prisons." 



244 MEMBERS. 

Cleveland adds : " A member has a right to seek 
his edification where he can best obtain it." This 
is particularly allowable to members in corrupt 
churches. Cambridge Platform* points out the 
way for such to proceed, viz. by calling a council 
of neighbor-churches, and, with their advice, offering 
themselves to the fellowship of another church. 
Owen, in his Answer to Stillingfieet, sect. 3,^ points 
out the proper course of such members as are in a 
church with defective rules, viz. to try peaceably to 
introduce a right state of things ; consider whether 
they are required to do any thing unlawful ; if so, 
and no forbearance is allowed, they must not con- 
demn them (if they are Christians), but peaceably 
withdraw. This was the principle on which the 
true Congregationalists separated from the Episco- 
pal church, because it required them to do what 
they deemed wrong. — See Affinity ; Dismission ; 
Ceremonies ; Liturgies ; Habits ; Separation ; 
Schism ; Nonconformity ; Withdrawing ; Mr. 
Davenport's case, in Pastor not lightly removed, 

1 Pages 109—113. ^ Page 121. ^ p^gg 161. ' spag© 38. 
^ Chap. XT. sect. 2. ^ In Works, xx. 321. 

MEMBERS, pious ones of heretical and scandalous 
churches to be received. — Cambridge Platform ^ di- 
rects that such should be received to wonted com- 
munion ; " for it is not equal that the innocent 
should suffer with the offensive;" — a principle 
which would, if applied, help out of difficulty those 
who scruple the regularity of a church to which 
some credible saints belong. 

* Chap. XV. sect. 2. 



MINISTERS. 245 

MEMBERS continue such of the former churchy 
till received by the church to which they are recom- 
mended, — Cotton Mather ^ shows this, and it is the 
universal principle acknowledged by Congregation- 
alists. 

iRat. Dis. 140. 

MEMBERS removing should transfer their mem- 
bership to the churches where they remove. — This is 
another universally approved principle. Cotton 
Mather shows its propriety, and ^ says : If they do 
not ask it, the church sometimes sends it. 

1 Rat. Dis. 140, 141. 

See further, for Members, under Churches, cen- 
sures^ Sfc. in the people ; Members have equal rights, 

MINISTERS, r^Aa^.— Thomas Goodwin' defines 
them " under-rowers to the church," a literal trans- 
lation of 1 Cor. iv. 1 ; and " servants of Christ," 
Rom. XV. 16 ; " dispensers of the gospel," Gal. iii. 
5, 11 ; Rom. xv. 16. 

* Catechism,. 10, 11. 

MINISTERS, are they successors of Jewish priests? 
Punchard' shows from history, that the doctrine 
that they were their successors, as it prevailed in 
the second century, was one great means of cor- 
rupting the churches, giving rise to the different 
grades, bishops, priests, and deacons (soon it was 
found more analogous to have one high priest). 
He quotes Mosheim, showing that this doctrine 

21* 



246 MINISTERS. 

soon led to other errors, among which was this, — an 
official elevation and sacredness in the clergy, which 
Christ never authorized. Owen, in his Duty of 
Pastor and People,^ chapters iii., iv., shows that 
appropriating the title priest to ministers is of Ro- 
man origin. — See Neander's Planting and Training 
of the Church, 84 ; and his Church History, i. sect. 
2, page 150. 

1 Hist. 22. 2 Works, xix. 24—35. 

MINISTERS not successors of the apostles by or- 
dination, — See Bishops ; Ordination ty direct 
succession unnecessary. 

MINISTERS, of equal rank. — This doctrine was 
received by the Paulicians in the seventh century, 
though it had been abandoned. In 1572, Mr. 
Charke of Peter House, Cambridge, said that " there 
ought to be a parity among ministers," &c. ; for 
which he was expelled the University. The same 
year, Mr. Field and Mr. Wilcox were shut up in 
Newgate for petitioning parliament on this subject. 
The cry was, that levelling the bishops would lead 
to levelling all the nobility in the land.^ The first 
claim to an inequality [jure divino) in England was 
set up by Dr. Bancroft, at St. Paul's Cross, January 
12, 1588, and at once aroused all the conforming 
Puritans in opposition. Sir Francis Knollys took 
the lead, and " wrote to the learned Dr. Reynolds 
of Oxford for his opinion." Dr. R. at once cited a 
host of English Episcopal authors, maintaining 
their equality save by the queen's mere civil ap- 



MINISTER. 247 

pointment. Among these he quotes Bishop Jewell, 
who cited Jerome, Ambrose, and Austin to their 
equality. He (Dr. R.) also directly and indirectly 
quotes a score or more of eminent reformers and 
English prelates to the point of their equality by 
divine appointment ; and says : " All who have 
labored in reforming the church for five hundred 
years (and this was nearly three hundred years ago) 
have taught, that all pastors, be they entitled bi- 
shops or priests, have equal authority and power 
by God's word." ^ Dr. Chauncy, in his Dudlean 
Lecture,' shows that the apostles instituted but 
one order of ministers ; gave no instructions con- 
cerning the fitness for different orders of it, and no 
different rules for those who were to ordain mini- 
sters of different grades. No ministers are found in 
the apostles' times but of one order; and " bishop " 
and "presbyter" are used interchangeably in the 
Greek in Acts xx. 17 and 28. The Reviewer of 
Sparks's Letters in Answer to Wyatt's Sermon^ 
says the arguments adduced for three orders would 
prove the existence of six or seven, as apostles, pro- 
phets, evangelists, elders, &c., &c. — See French 
Confession, and Confession of Low Country Exiles, 
in Hanbury, i. 92. See Bishops. 

1 Neal's Puritans, i. 121, 122. ^ lb. 186, 187. ^ Pages 13—25. 
^ Page 9. 

MINISTER, calling ; in what does it consist ? — 
Owen ^ says that it arises from Christ's institution 
of the office ; from God's providential designation of 
the person ; and from the church's call, election, or 



248 MINISTER. 

appointment ; and their acceptation. Richard Ma- 
ther ^ says the outward calling of a minister consists 
in election by the people; which he sustains by 
quotations from Mornay and from Chrysostom. 
Yet he says the calling of many ministers (Episco- 
pal) in England may be excused because they were 
accepted by the people. In his Apology ^ he shows 
that ministers have power over the churches only 
by virtue of their choosing them to rule over them. 
(See Elders rule as moderators,) Jacob's Church, 
in their Confession (art. x.),^ say : " We believe that 
the essence of a minister's call under the gospel is 
the congregation's (i.e. church's) consent." They 
assert,^ in their Plea for Toleration, that ministers' 
calling is by the consent of the several congrega- 
tions. Holding that a minister must be made by a 
bishop or another minister, is to hold '' that a mini- 
ster is before and greater than a church ; a great 
and harmful error, and contrary to 1 Cor. iii. 21 — 
23." Increase Mather, in his Vindication of the 
Order of the New England Churches,^ enumerates 
among those things (" which to espouse is to give 
up the whole of Congregationalism "), " that a 
minister's call consists not in election, but in the 
imposition of hands." With this doctrine agree 
Increase Mather (Disquisition on Ecclesiastical 
Councils, preface), who quotes many authors to 
sustain it; and Trumbull (History of Connecticut, 
i. 296), where he declares that '^ such was the opi- 
nion of the principal divines who settled New 
England and Connecticut." Cambridge Platform 
declares explicitly^ that it consists, not in his ordi- 



I 



MINISTERS. 249 

nation, but the church's election and his accep- 
tance. — See Calling ; Elders ; Imposition of 
hands; Ordination; Pastor. 

Works, xix. 70. ^ Ch. Gov. and Ch. Gov. 67. ^ Page 24. 
4 In Han. i. 296. ^ ib. 307, 308. *^ Page 8. ' Chap. ix. sect. 2. 



MINISTERS, authority of, what. — Goodwin ' 
shows that they have the '''rule over^^ the church in 
these three things : " To declare to them the myste- 
ries of the kingdom of God ; so that, whether they 
exhort, teach, or admonish, they do it with autho- 
rity ; to call the church assemblies together, and to 
dismiss them, and moderate matters in the assem- 
bly;" and "they are the mouth and hands of the 
church, by which they execute the power of the 
censures." This is the doctrine which has been 
hitherto maintained by Congregationalists ; yet 
they have a remedy in the case of mal-administra- 
tion of ministers, — all power coming back into 
their own hands at their own election. Ainsworth, 
in his reply to Clyfton,^ says : " To give votes in 
deciding of controversies, and judging of sinners, is 
not a part of government, but of power and right 
that saints out of office have." Watts, in his Foun- 
dation of a Christian Church,^ says the rule of 
ministers is to lead in worship, not to impose odd 
inventions. Paul had no dominion over men's faith. 
The- judge has no power to make law: he explains, 
and the jury decide. Ministers have no power to 
command any thing but what is found in the Bible. 
— See Elders rule as moderators ; Government, 



260 MINISTERS. 

churchy in the people; Power, churchy installed in 
the ministry or the brethren ? 

^ Catechism, 12. « In Han. i. 249. ^ Works, iii. 218, 219, 226. 

MINISTERS, people may do their work for them 
if they neglect it. — John Robinson, in his Justifica- 
tion of Separation, says : ^ " Yea, even where officers 
are, if they fail in their duties, the people may 
enterprise matters needful, however you make the 
minister the primum movens, and would tie all to 
his fingers." Jacob's Church,^ in their Confession 
(art. xiv.), say : " Officers have nothing more than 
what the congregation doth commit unto them, and 
which they may, when need requireth, take from 
them, yea, to their utter deposing and also rejection 
out of the church, if such necessity be." Welde, 
in his Reply to Rathband,^ however, maintains that 
they must first depose him before they can take his 
ofl[ice-work from him ; " but in no case, while he 
abides in office, to resume their power, and enter 
upon his work." — See Elders, is one or more ne- 
cessary to church acts ? Officers abdicate when they 
refuse to do the duties pertaining to their office ; Ju- 
risdiction; Government, ci'yzV; Resistance. 

1 In Han. i. 212 ; and Works, ii. 148. ^ ib. 297. ^ lb. ii. 317. 

MINISTERS should submit to the censure of the 
church. — Goodwin^ shows this from the example 
of Peter. — See Pastor, is he censurable by his 
church ? Elders, is one or more necessary to church 
action ? 

^ Catechism, 11. 



MINISTERS. 251 

MINISTER^ how dismissed from his pastoral 
charge. — Punchard, in his View/ gives the details 
of a proper procedure, save that he makes it regular 
for a people who want to dismiss their pastor to 
send a delegation to suggest the expediency of his 
asking a dismission ; thus putting a false coloring 
on the whole matter, representing that the first 
movement originates with him rather than with 
them. See Upham's Rat. Dis. 124—133 ; and Ba- 
con's Church Manual, 139, 140. — See next article. 

1 Pages 175—177. 

MINISTERS, Aoi^;c?6;?05^c?. — The Answer of the 
New England Elders ^ asserts that the church, in 
the name of Christ, gave their minister power to be 
what he is ; and they may on as good grounds de- 
pose him from it, as they called him to it. Ro- 
binson, in his Reply to Barnard,^- says : " If the 
ministers will deal corruptly, . . . the brethren are to 
censure, depose, reject, and avoid them." In the 
Appendix to Mr. Perkins,^ he says : " If an officer 
be found unfaithful, he is by the church to be 
warned to take heed to his ministry, . . . which if 
he neglect to do, by the same power (the church's) 
which set him up, he is to be put down and de- 
posed." Wise ^ quotes Cyprian : " When bishops 
prove wicked or heretical, the churches have power 
to degrade and depose them, and to choose others 
in their room." Cambridge Platform * says : " In 
case an elder offend incorrigibly, ... as the church 
had power to call him to his office, so they have 
power, according to order (the council of other 



262 MINISTERS. 

churches, where it may be had, directing thereto), 
to remove him from his oJSice." Hooker ^ shows, 
that, in case the officer is heretical and obstinately- 
wicked, the church have power to reject him, and 
make him no officer ; for a church is before its offi- 
cers. He shows ^ that they who have power to 
" depose " their officers have the power of judgment 
over them. Hutchinson, in his History of Massa- 
chusetts,^ lays it down as the received opinion of 
the fathers of New England, that it is in the power 
of churches to call their officers, and remove them 
from office, — the advice of neighbor-churches, 
where it may conveniently be done, being first had. 
Samuel Mather devotes the fourth chapter of his 
Apology to prove this right in the churches. He 
quotes from Clement, Origen, and Cyprian, to the 
point; and maintains the right from the power of 
self-preservation and the principles of the Platform. 
The Massachusetts Convention of 1773, in their 
Observations on the Plan of Church Government,^ 
assert that the churches have power to depose, but 
are morally culpable if they do it without or con- 
trary to a council* The power resides in them 
only^ and not in any synod or ecclesiastical council. 
In exercising it without counsel, they act contrary 
to order. Baynes, in his Diocesan's Trial,^^ says : 
" If their own churches have no power over them, 
it will be hard to show wherein others have such 



* This was about the tune of the controversy concerning veto-power ; 
and, if we cannot see how they are "morally culpable " for using their 
rightful power, we may reflect that " that which is crooked cannot be 
made straight." 



MINISTERS. 253 

power and jurisdiction over persons who belong not 
to their own churches." — See Bacon's Church Ma- 
nual, 140, 141. 

iPage 77. 2 In Punchard's Hist. 330; and Works, ii. 174. 
3 lb. 353 ; and Works, iii. 431. ^ Vindication, 13, U, ^ Chap. x. 
sect. 6. 6 Survey, part i. 93. ^ Page 196. « Yol. i. 381. » Pages 
6, 7. ^0 Page 88. 

MINISTERS, their character not indelible. — This 
was the doctrine of the Brownists.^ The early Con- 
gregationalists also held the same. The New Eng- 
land Elders ^ say: " We have no such indelible cha- 
racter imprinted on a minister, that he must needs 
be so for ever, because he once was so. His minis- 
try ceasing, the minister ceaseth also." Allin and 
Shepard, in their Defence of the Nine Positions,^ 
inquire, " What authority has he to minister to 
any church, if they will not hear him ? " A dis- 
missed minister, they maintain, is no longer an 
officer in any church of God ; and the reason is, a 
minister's office in the church is no indelible cha- 
racter. Cambridge Platform ^ says : " He that is 
clearly loosed from his office-relation to that church 
whereof he was a minister, cannot be looked at as 
an officer, nor perform any act of office in any 
other church, unless he be again called to office." 
Cotton Mather ^ quotes John Owen : " We have no 
concernment in the figment of an indelible charac- 
ter, . . . yet we do not leave the minister when we 
go from home." He distinguished between an 
officer of a church, and one providentially called to 
preach the word. John Robinson, in the Appendix 
to Mr. Perkins,^ says : Those that are out of office, 
22 



254 MINISTERS. 

we are told, are to feed the flock in the exercise of 
prophecy, which, it is said, is proved by examples 
in the Jewish church, Luke ii. 42, 46, 47 ; iv. 16, 18 ; 
Acts viii. 4 ; xi. 19 — 21 ; xiii. 14 — 16 ; xviii. 24 — 
26 ; and by the command of Christ and his apos- 
tles, Luke ix. 1 ; x. 1 ; Rom. xii. 9 ; 1 Peter iv. 10, 
11 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 1, &c. — See next article ; also 
Preacher, not necessarily pastor; Officers, their 
office^ qualifications^ and jurisdiction, 

^ Neal, i. 150. ^ Ans. 77. ^ In Han. iii. 42. * Chap. ix. sect. 7. 
^ Magnalia, ii. 205. ^ In Punchard's Hist. 253 ; and Works, iii. 
432, 433. 

MINISTERS, may they administer seals where 
they are not pastors? — The early Congregational- 
ists generally maintained the negative. The New 
England Elders ^ declare that a minister may not 
perform a ministerial act in any other church. 
Goodwin devoted the seventh chapter of his seventh 
book to show that they could not lawfully be ad- 
ministered anywhere but in a particular church, by 
their own ministers, and that they might not have 
them administered to different branches succes- 
sively. Paget (a Puritan Conformist) inquires : ^ 
" If members may lawfully rcQeive the Lord^s 
Supper in another church, . . . why may not pas- 
tors administer it also in another, when need so 
requireth ? " Ainsworth replies : ^ " A Christian 
joineth himself to a flock where the pastor feedeth 
them," when he comes among them. Show you 
a like warrant for elderships to do the work in other 
elderships and churches. Hooker, in his Survey, 



MINISTERS. 255 

says * a pastor only of one flock can do no pastoral 
acts (referring to seals, &c.) in another: "Those 
whom a pastor cannot judge over, over them he 
can exercise no pastoral act." Nathaniel Mather 
published a Disquisition on purpose to prove the 
negative of this question. In his Epistle to the 
Reader, he says a minister is to feed the flock over 
which the Holy Ghost has made him overseer; 
otherwise we shall justify the conduct of those who 
call lay brethren to administer it. " If he does it 
as pastor, then he does it as pastor of his own 
church, and then one church may make a pastor 
for another." He maintains^ that a pastor may 
not administer seals to another church, though the 
church asks it and he consents. This principle, he 
claims, leads churches to furnish themselves with 
pastors, which if they are too poor to do, their sis- 
ter-churches should give them pecuniary help, not 
officers. He claims the majority of Congrega- 
tionalists with him. His illustrious relatives, it 
seems, espoused the other side of the question. 
The same is true of the modern Congregationalists 
generally. They hold that administering the seals 
is not an act of ministerial power; having gone 
over to the democratic doctrine so dreaded by the 
fathers. Cotton Mather says ^ the Platform denies 
not the power of a minister to administer commu- 
nion in another church besides his own. Mr. Phil- 
lips of Watertown did administer it to Mr. Wilson's 
of Boston when he was gone to England. Ances- 
tus thus requested Poly carpus to administer it. 
Cambridge Association^ early decided that they 



256 MINISTERS. 

might so administer it, by the request of the church. 
In his Ratio Disciplinae,^ he says of this question: 
" It has been very publicly and practically answered 
that they may." He claims Dr. Goodwin, Dr. Owen, 
and the first fathers of New England, as with him. 
The opinion of Samuel Mather may be clearly in- 
ferred from his principle, that a church may lawfully 
appoint a lay brother to administer them. It is on 
this principle alone, the consent of the church, that 
dismissed ministers and evangelists now administer 
seals. We may see, then, that the administration 
of the Lord's Supper by ecclesiastical and volun- 
tary assemblies is out of order. It should be wholly 
under the direction of the church where they as- 
semble. Increase Mather maintains this side of 
the question in his Vindication,^ argues that they 
may administer on invitation, and quotes Cam- 
bridge Platform, chap. xv. sect. 4 ; Norton's Answer 
to Appolinius ; Shepard and Allin's Answer to 
Ball ; Richard Mather, Cotton, and Goodwin. Cot- 
ton,^^ however, did not baptize his child at sea. 
because he believed that a minister could not law- 
fully administer seals out of his own congregation ; 
and also that they should be administered in an 
organized church. See Upham's Rat. Dis. 217, 
236. — See Lord's Supper, may it he administered 
by any but ordained ministers ? Officers ; Seals ; 
Platform, Cambridge, 



1 Ans. 78. 2 In Han. i. 331, 332. ^ib. 344, 345. * Partii. 61, 
63. ^ Pages 50, 70, 75. ^ Magnalia, ii. 204. ' lb. 205. « Pages 
134—136. 9 Pages 112—117. ^^ Winthrop's Jotirnal, i. 110. 



MINISTERS. 257 

MINISTERS should give themselves wholly to 
their work, — Thomas Goodwin shows at length ^ 
that God thought fit to make it the sole business 
of men, enabled with the greatest gifts that were 
ever poured out upon men, to attend and look to the 
bringing up of his children, and to give themselves 
continually to the word and prayer. Every private 
member is to advance his brother; but it is the 
minister's work to do it. So Bradshaw, in his 
English Puritanism.^ Hooker, in his Survey,^ shows 
that he must take up no employment but what fits 
him for his main work, and not entangle himself, 
Acts vi. 2 — 4. Cotton Mather,^ in his Sermon to a 
Part of the Persons engaged in a Just War against 
the Northern and Eastern Savages, apologizes for 
his lack of preparation, and says : " Nothing is 
more fulsome and nauseous than for a preacher to 
value himself on such a crime as his not spending 
much time in study." — See next two articles. 

1 Ch. Gov. 265—272. ^ in Neal, i. 249. ^ Part ii. 27. * Epis- 
tle Dedicatory. 

MINISTERS should not be magistrates, — Hooker, 
in his Survey,^ says : " The minister should give the 
whole man to the work ; hence it is unlawful for 
him to be a magistrate, for he has not the ability 
to discharge the duties of both offices." Jacob's 
Church Confession (art. xxiv.)^ says : " We believe 
that joining of pastoral ministry and magistracy 
together in one person is simply unlawful, and con- 
trary to the text of the New Testament." To the 
same effect they profess in art. xxvii. Lord Brooke, 

22* 



258 MINISTERS. 

in his Discourse on Episcopacy,^ comes out largely 
on the evils of this practice, in the case of the lords 
bishops of England. Bradshaw, in his English 
Puritanism,^ says: "No pastor ought to exercise 
or accept of any civil jurisdiction, . . . but ought to 
be wholly employed in spiritual offices and duties." 
Cartwright, in his Reply to Whitgift,^ says that a 
minister may not have a civil office. He may not 
so much as be diverted to bury his father, nor rule 
to divide an inheritance. So, too, argue the over- 
seers, &c. of the English Church at Amsterdam.^ 
Increase Nowel resigned his ruling eldership in 
Charlestown, because it was decided that it was 
inconsistent with his holding the magistracy.*^ 



iPart ii. 26. ^ In Han. i. 301, 302. ^ j^. ng, ng. 4 1^ 
Neal's Puritans, i. 249. ^ Page 206. ^ Apology, 37—61. ^ Eliot, 
Biog. Diet. 343. 

MINISTERS, maintenance of. — Goodwin de- 
votes the fourth chapter of his seventh book on 
Church Government to this subject. He defends 
their right to it on the principles of common justice; 
pleads that it should be ample because of the ne- 
cessary expenses ; because it is the labor of the 
mind, which spends the best spirits, and preys upon 
the vitals; their education is long and expensive; 
and it brings the greatest of all blessings. He shows 
that it should be a fixed stipend, mutually agreed 
upon, and that the people have no right to dictate 
alone what to give (yet he argues for raising it by 
voluntary contribution) ; and he shows abundantly, 
that it is not a matter of courtesy, but a minister's 



MINISTERS. 259 

right. The Confession of Jacob's Church, art. 
xxvi./ maintains that voluntary tithing is not unlaw- 
ful but that it is better that it should be by volun- 
tary contribution, by every one as God has prospered 
him. Rathband ' asserted, that, in New England, 
ministers were in the habit of requiring a stipulated 
salary, else they would not preach. Welde denies 
the charge, and says our ministers' maintenance 
must be honorable ; not as alms and coveting, but 
as debt and duty. But for settled and stinted 
maintenance there is nothing done that way, except 
from year to year. The Massachusetts colony laws 
in 1651 enacted that every inhabitant shall contri- 
bute to all charges in church and commonwealth, 
and provides that they may be compelled thereto 
by assessment and distress, and strengthened the 
same in 1654 and 1660. The Massachusetts Pro- 
vince laws in 1692, and the Plymouth Colony laws 
in 1657, provide for the support of ministers by law. 
Hooker, in his Survey,^ after asserting that he must 
give himself wholly to his work, adds : " They 
should provide for him and his family, not as a 
matter of liberty or courtesy, but of justice. He 
asserts "* that it cannot be raised out of a contribu- 
tion to it and the poor ; because one is a matter of 
mercy, the other of justice. If a member fail to 
support, it is a breach of a known rule of duty. 
The church determine how it is to be raised, and 
the deacons see to the execution of it. Isaac Chaun- 
cy, in his Divine Institution of Congregational 
Churches,* shows that Christ sent not his ministers 
without scrip, as common beggars, but there was 



260 MINISTERS. 

moral justice that they should be remembered by 
the people. The Apology of the Overseers, &c. of 
the English Church at Amsterdam ® argues, that they 
should be maintained by voluntary contributions. 
Eaton and Taylor'' argue that such a contribution 
should be taken every Lord's day. Increase Ma- 
ther, in his treatise concerning the Maintenance 
due to those who Preach the Gospel, comes to 
these conclusions : An honorable maintenance is 
due them ; the reformed churches have many of 
them been faulty in this matter ; there is something 
due to God out of every man's estate, and the tenth 
of his income is the least that may be supposed ; 
tithes are not, by the divine law, due to ministers 
of the gospel, but the surplus should be applied to 
other benevolent "objects. Mitchell, in his Guide, 
178—210; Upham, Kat. Dis. 109; and Punchard, 
View, 188 — -190, treat of this subject in its modern 
bearings and usages. 

1 In Han. i. 301. ^ ib. ii. 333. « Part ii. 27. ^ lb. 30, 31. 
* Page 138. ^ Pages 37—61. ^ Defence, 60. 

MINISTERS, refusing to support^ disciplinable. 
— Mitchell ^ shows this on the ground that it is 
covetousness, injustice, and disobedience to Christy and 
betrays such indifference to the gospel as is not far 
from denying the faith — See preceding article. 

1 Guide, 100. 

MINISTERS set apart to the work^ and to preach 
to those without — Goodwin^ shows this, though 
they have no power to judge those that are without. 



MINORITIES. 261 

The Brownists held a minister's whole duty to be 
to take care of the church. 

1 Ch. Gov. 310—313. 

For the whole subject of ministers, see also El- 
der, Election, Installation, Officer, Ordina- 
tion, Pastor, Preach, Teacher. 

MINISTRY, a learned and able, to be provided for. 
— This was one of the first cares of the New Eng- 
land Planters. Accordingly, four hundred pounds 
were voted by the General Court in 1630 to be- 
gin ttie enterprise of establishing Harvard College. 
This, considering the deep poverty of these Puri- 
tans, must have cost a great sacrifice. But, as 
Cotton Mather says, " Without such provision for 
a sufficient ministry, the churches of New England 
must have been less than a business of one age." 
Our fathers came here for Christ and the church, 
and owe their prosperity under God to sowing 
bountifully to enable their ministers to be work- 
men that need not to be ashamed.— See this matter 
wisely stated in Mather's Magnalia, ii. 67. 

MINORITIES, their rig-Ms, — TmmhuW' informs 
us that the General Court of Connecticut called a 
Council at Hartford in 1657 ; but the minority 
would not accept the result, because the council 
was forced upon them by legislative authority. 
Watts, in his Foundation of a Christian Church,^ 
shows that the majority are to choose the minister, 
and a minority should sit down satisfied unless it 



262 NEW ENGLAND. 

be against their consciences ; in which case they 
should withdraw. — See Majorities. 

1 Hist. Conn. i. 315. ^ Works, iii. 216. 

MISSIONARY WORK. — In Mourt's Relation ' 
■ is this reflection, " Seeing we daily pray for the con- 
version of the heathen, we must consider whether 
there be not some ordinary means and course for 
us to take to convert them ; or whether prayer for 
them be only referred to God's extraordinary work 
from heaven." He presses this consideration, as a 
reason for removing to New England. Dr. Ware, 
in his History of the Old North and New Brick 
Churches, Boston, asserts ^ that one of them in 
1726 contributed £60 for the propagation of the 
gospel. Robinson and Owen, and their coadjutors, 
just as distinctly recognize the obligation of aggres- 
sive missionary movements as do Worcester and 
Evarts, and the Missionary Boards of the present 
day. 

^ In Hist. Soc. Col. series ii. vol. ix. 67. ^ Page 50. 

NEGATIVE VOTE. — See Churches begun 
ivithout officers ; Pastor, has he a negative vote? 

NEW ENGLAND, tribute to first settlers of, — 
The authors of the Apologetical Narrative in the 
Westminster Assembly, speaking of their own helps 
to understand the true system of church govern- 
ment, say : ^ " Last of all, we have had the example 
of the ways and practices (and those improved to 
a better edition and greater refinement by all the 



NONCONFORMITY. 263 

forementioned helps) of those multitudes of godly 
men of our own nation, to the number almost of 
another nation ; and among them some as holy and 
judicious as this kingdom hath had, whose sincerity 
in this way hath been testified by the greatest un- 
dertaking, but that of our father Abraham out of 
his own country, and his seed after him ; a trans- 
planting themselves many thousand miles into the 
wilderness, merely to worship God with more puri- 
ty ; '' — no mean praise to come from the greatest 
lights of the seventeenth century. 

^ In Han. ii. 223. 

NON-COMMUNION, grounds for. — Goodwin 
shows ^ that this should be only for such sins as 
render the individuals of the church rejected, worthy 
of excommunication. 

' Ch. Gov. 238. 

NONCONFORMISTS, Independents among them 
were for universal toleration. — Neal ^ shows that 
this was their wish in 1662, after the Restoration ; 
while the Presbyterians objected to including the 
Papists, and thereby defeated the whole object. — 
See Toleration. 

* Puritans, ii. 247. 

NONCONFORMITY, reasons for. — A good ac- 
count of these is given in NeaPs History of the 
Puritans, vol. i. chap. 4. He gives ^ an abstract of 
them, handed in by the ministers who first refused 
subscription, entitled, Reasons grounded upon the 



264 NONCONFORMITY. 

Scriptures, whereby we are Persuaded not to admit 
the Outward Apparel and Ministering Garments 
•of the Pope's Church ; as, 1. " Our Saviour says : 
Take heed that ye contemn not one of these little 
ones." They show that conforming here may lead 
these to idolatry, and thus wound their weak con- 
sciences. 2. " We may not do any thing that is 
repugnant to Christian liberty, nor maintain an opi- 
nion of holiness where none is, nor consent to idola- 
try, nor deny the truth." They show many other 
evil things which they should do by conforming to 
the habits. 3. They vindicate their course by the 
testimony of the fathers. The Letter of some Aged 
Non-conforming Ministers touching the Reasons of 
their Practice,^ gives, in substance, the following: 
They do not like the Prayer-book ; Christ gave no 
authority to impose such a book on us ; much of 
it is taken from the Mass-book ; it is faulty in form ; 
requires things not true nor gobd, as holy days, 
baptismal regeneration, the funeral service, sending 
all the baptized to heaven, &c. ; it decrees human 
traditions, the cross in baptism, kneeling at the 
sacrament, &c. In short, they adduce almost all 
the arguments of dissenters in a condensed form. — 
See Habits, Ceremonies. 

1 lb. 99. 2 Pages 7—23. 

NONCONFORMITY, obstacles 2^0. — Prince ^in- 
forms us that not more than one in forty of the 
Catholics refused to conform in Elizabeth's reign, 
so that the Puritans had to contend not only 
against the ceremonies, but also against disguised 



OATH. 265 

Papists. The preface to the History of Noncon- 
formity (attributed to Neal), after stating other per- 
secutions of non-conforming ministers, says : " Are 
they willing to lay down and live peaceably among 
their neighbors? They shall not so much as have 
liberty to do that within five miles of any corpora- 
tion, unless they will swear never to endeavor any 
alteration in church government." — See Persecu- 
tion ; Toleration. 

* Chronology, 228. 

OATH, mode of taking, — Increase Mather, in his 
Discourse on Common Prayer, Worship, and Kiss- 
ing the Book in Swearing,^ maintains that it is un- 
scriptural to kiss the book, the Scripture form being 
with uplifted hand ; that it is symbolizing with 
Popish idolatries. The Papists say: So help me 
God and these holy evangelists. Pareus says : It 
is Popish superstition in swearing to touch the 
Gospels with the finger. Burroughs, Voetius, and 
Thomas Goodwin are cited, condemning the prac- 
tice as idolatrous. Rev. S. Willard, on the Cere- 
mony of Laying the Hand on the Bible in Swear- 
ing, says : ^ " Whatever is sworn by is not a medium., 
but an object, of worship." It is in the oath of 
supremacy " an invocation to God, and swearing 
by the contents of the book."^ In ib., Epistle to 
the Reader by M. I. (probably Increase Mather), 
Goodwin, Nye, and Burroughs are quoted as op- 
posed to this rite. Kissing in a religious way is a 
gesture of adoration. 

^ Pages 39—43. ^ Page 5. » Ib. 6. 
23 



266 OFFICERS. 

For the general subject of Oaths, see Savoy Con- 
fession, art. xxiii. It may be found in Upham's 
Rat. Dis. 271, and also bound with the Cambridge 
Platform, edition of 1808 ; the Confession being 
published in 1812, also in various other works. 

OFFENCES. — Hooker ^ says that private ones 
should be covered as far as possible, and healed. — 
See Discipline. 

* Survey, part iii. 34. 

OFFERINGS. — See Gifts ; Collections. 

OFFICE does not reside in electors, — Owen, in 
his Nature of a Gospel Church, chap, iv.^ shows that 
election only gives the power of office as Christ 
directs, but does not transmit power from the elect- 
ors to the elected. 

* In "Works, xx. 424. 

OFFICER, may a church call one of another church 
occasionally to preside over them ? — Goodwin ^ 
seems tacitly to admit that they may, though he 
shows that it is by virtue of the special call of the 
church, and not of his office in the other church. — ' 
See Ministers, may they administer seals, Sfc. ? 

1 Ch. Gov. 232. 

OFFICERS, church ; what they are. — Burton, in 
his Rejoinder to Prynne's Full Reply ,^ makes them 
to be pastors, teachers, ruling elders, and deacons. 
So, too, the Leyden Church,^ Lord Brooke,^ the In- 



OFFICERS. 267 

dependents in the Westminster Assembly,^ the Pro- 
posers to Parliament for gathering Independent 
Churches,^ the principal divines among the first 
settlers of New England.^ Widows were added to 
these by Thomas Goodwin/ and afterward by other 
Congregational writers. (See these several officers 
under their own appropriate heads.) The Congre- 
gational Union of England and Wales ^ believe 
that they are only bishops and deacons, and with 
this agree the present general belief and practice. 
President Stiles ^ says : " Several churches, in com- 
pliance with the sentiments of their pastors, had 
ruling and teaching elders at first ; yet they at 
length disused the ruling elder ; and the teaching 
elder, as distinct from pastor, is now dropped." Dr. 
Dwight ^^ says : " Whatever church officers the 
Scriptures have established, as standing officers, 
are appointed by God himself: ... all others are of 
human institution." 

1 Page 4. ^ In Punchard's Hist. 362. ^ Discourse on Episco- 
pacy, in Han. ii. 127. ^ lb. 224. * lb. iii. 248. ^ Tmmbuirs 
Hist. Conn. i. 295. ' Catechism, 28. ^ In Han. iii. 600. ^ Conv. 
8erm. 64. ^^ Works, Serm. cl. 

OFFICERS, church ; their office and qualifications. 
Nathaniel Mather, in his Disquisition,* says, to be 
an officer in a church is to be Christ's substitute. 
It is not an indelible office-power, imparted to a 
manj go where he will; but is a spiritual relation, 
to which the institution of Christ gives being ; and 
does not extend to those over which the Holy 
Ghost has not made him overseer. He shows ^ that 
churches may be without officers, but officers can- 



268 OFFICERS. 

not be without churches. The Vindication of the 
Preacher Sent' maintains that some gifted unor- 
dained men are gospel preachers; and that officers 
sustain not a relation as officers to the universal 
church. The New England elders, in their Answer 
to the Nine Positions,^ say: '' The office is founded 
in the relation between the church and the officer; 
wherefore take away the relation, and the office 
ceaseth." Bradshaw, in his English Puritanism,^ 
asserts "that ecclesiastical officers or ministers in 
one church ought not to bear any ecclesiastical 
office in another." The True Description of the 
Visible Church, published in 1589,® says a pastor 
should be '' apt to teach," and watchful over the 
flock ; a doctor apt to teach, to edify ; the elders 
should have wisdom, judgment, and should* be able 
to prevent and redress evil. Lord Brooke, in his 
Discourse on Episcopacy,'^ asserts that it is not in 
the power of officers to decide cases when the 
church is together. Why tell it to the church, if 
the officers are to decide ? " All officers vail bonnet 
when the party giving power is present." Good- 
win ^ maintains that he carries with him the power 
of order, as of a minister to preach (i.e. by autho- 
rity), but not a power of jurisdiction, which ceases 
when and where his official relation to a particu- 
lar church ceases. Cambridge Platform ^ says : 
" Church officers are officers to one church even 
that particular church over which the Holy Ghost 
has made them overseers." A council at Concord, 
in 1637,^° decided that ministers, come from Eng- 
land, were no ministers till they were called to an- 



OFFICERS. 269 

other church, though they were ministers before they 
were solemnly ordained. See Suppressed Directory 
of the Early Nonconformists, in Neal, ii. 440 ; also 
Goodwin, Church Government, book vi. 282 — 290. 
— See Ministers, is their character indelible ? may 
they administer seals^ SfC, ? Officers limited to those 
qualified. 

1 Pages 3, 4. ^ Page 7. ^ In Han. i. 357. ^ib.ii. 29. ^ Neal's 
Puritans, i. 248. « In Han. i. 30. ^ lb. ii. 128. » Ch. Gov. 230. 
^ Chap. ix. sect. 6. ^° Winthrop, i. 217. 

OFFICERS not the church. — Goodwin' says ; 
" They are never called the church in the New Tes- 
tament. The officers are said to be set in the 
church, but they are not called the church." He 
quotes ^ from Parker's Ecclesiastical Polity, " It may 
be denied that the name church is ever in the Scrip- 
tures restrained only to the priests ; " and he shows 
from Clemens Romanus, that he wrote to the 
church, and ilot to the elders as such. The whole 
of chap. vii. book ii. argues that the elders are not 
the church. 

^Ch. Gov. 66. 2 lb. 74. 

^^ OFFICERSj churchy chosen by the people. — This 
is everywhere maintained as fundamental to Con- 
gregationalism. Mosheim ' affirms unhesitatingly, 
" that the people were undoubtedly the first in au- 
thority ... it was therefore the assembly of the 
people that chose their own rulers and teachers." 
The Desires of the Independents ^ has this, " that 
godly, able ministers, chosen by the people^ exercise 

23* 



270 OFFICERS. 

their ministry." Bartlett's Model ^ has a " brief 
view for choosing officers by the whole church." 
The sixth of the Propositions to Parliament* is, 
" that every congregation . . . have full and free 
power to choose their own officers." Cotton's 
Keys, 37 ; Cambridge Platform, chap. viii. sect. 
5, 6 ; Wise's Vindication, 50, 51 ; Samuel Mather's 
Apology, 35 — 50 ; and Davenport's Apologetical 
Reply, 37, all maintain and defend the same doc- 
trine. Owen, in his Nature of a Gospel Church, 
chap, iv.^ shows that the apostles are recorded in 
Acts xiv. 23 to have ordained elders in every city 
by the lifting up of the hands, or election of the bre- 
thren, translated as it is by force of law, to answer 
a special purpose. He ^ answers specious objec- 
tions to the choosing of them by the people (as that 
they are incapable), showing that they are not pre- 
cluded from taking advice, but they must choose 
for themselves. Dr. Bentley, in his Description of 
Salem,*^ shows that Mr. Nicholet was called to 
Salem by a vote taken in the congregation, and 
not in the church. " Governor Leverett and others 
declared their disapprobation, as contrary to the 
law of the jurisdiction and the usages of the church." 
Letchford, in his Plain Dealing,^ asserts that " the ^ 
churches elect their own officers." Lord Brooke, 
in his Discourse on Episcopacy,^ says by God's 
rule the officers' election is to be by the people. 
See Upham's Rat. Dis. 102—104 ; Punchard's 
View, 57, 123, 134 ; and especially Coleman's Pri- 
mitive Church, chap. iv. — See Pastors, power to 
elect, in the church. 



OFFICERS. 271 

1 In Han. i. 9. ^ in ib. iii. 44. » lb. 246. ^ ib. 247. ^ Works, 
XX. 415. ^ Ib. 422. ^ in Hist. Soc. Col. series i. vol. vi. 263. 
^ Ib. series iii. vol. iii. 64. ^ In Han. ii. 126. 



OFFICERS, church, chosen for life. — The sixth 
of the Propositions for Reforming the English 
Churches includes this : ^ " Let them ordain officers 
for life, and not for one year only." Their rotation 
was one of the objections of the exiles to the Dutch 
churches. — See Elders, is their office perpetual ? 

1 In Han. ii. 578. 

OFFICERS limited to those qualified, — Cambridge 
Platform ^ says they should be first tried and proved, 
in respect to those gifts and virtues which the Scrip- 
ture requireth in men that are to be elected to such 
places ; specifying their qualifications, and naming 
the Scripture proofs. Owen, in his Nature of a 
Gospel Church,^ says it is not in the power of the 
church to communicate office-power to one who 
has not the required qualifications. After repeat- 
ing substantially the above,^ he maintains that it is 
duty to withdraw from churches that have deficient 
pastors, and join to others. — See Officers, their 
office and qualifications, 

» Chap. viii. sect. 3, 4. ^ Works, xx. 432. ^ Ib. 455. 

OFFICERS, all elected ones are truly officers. — 
Hooker ^ shows this point, and adds : " The Scribes 
and Pharisees sit in Moses' chair. They must there- 
fore be heard, though unworthy." He evidently 
means only that they should be heard while con- 



I 



272 OFFICERS. 

tinued in office, and we continue with the church ; 
which is an important but often neglected truth. 

* Survey, part ii. 45. 

OFFICERS, God''s giftj and not to be multiplied. — 
Goodwin ^ shows this most conclusively, making it 
appear that to appoint officers in the kingdom of 
heaven, which Christ has not appointed, is to usurp 
his authority. He tells us, in his word, what offi- 
cers he has set in the churches, and requires (1 Tim. 
vi. 14) that his commandment be kept unrebukable 
till the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Cam- 
bridge Platform says : ^ " The instituting of all these 
officers in the church is the work of God himself ; 
. . . and therefore such officers as he hath not ap- 
pointed are altogether unlawful to be placed in the 
church, or to be retained therein." Hooker^ shows 
that there should be no more officers than are ap- 
pointed by Christ. " These are from heaven." — 
See Church, officers of ; Committees, church ; 
Standing Committees. 

1 Ch. Gov. 267—269. ^ chap. vii. sect. 6. ^ Survey, part ii. 4. 

OFFICERS necessary because of God^s appoint- 
ment. — Goodwin ^ shows this in a masterly argu- 
ment, setting at nought the wisdom of those who 
would have no pastors ; officers which God has set 
in the churches. 

^ Ch. Gov. 264—269. 

OFFICERS, may they be deposed for sins not de- 
serving of excommunication ? — Goodwin * discusses 



ORDINANCES. 273 

this point at length, and concludes in the negative : 
showing that the Scriptures require them to be 
treated " with peculiar tenderness," whereas the 
present practice is to treat them with " peculiar 
severity." 

* Ch. Gov. book vii. chap. 10. 

OFFICERS, servants of the church. — Goodwin ^ 
says : " It is necessary that there should be many 
officers in every church, to whom the exercise of 
church power be especially committed, though the 
power itself be wholly in the church itself, whose 
servants and helpers they are, 1 Cor. i. 24, and not 
lords over them." — See Elders, servants of the 
church, 

» Ch. Gov. 267. 

OFFICERS abdicate when they refuse to do the 
duties of their office, — Wise^ maintains the appli- 
cation of this as a general rule to those pastors 
who refuse to call the church together. Goodwin,^ 
speaking of the delinquency of officers, says: " Then 
doth their power return again to the church, from 
whence they first received it." — See Ministers, 
people may do their work for them^ Sfc; Govern- 
ment, civile SfC*; particularly quotations from Bridge 
and Chief Justice Holt, in ib. 

^ Quarrel of the Churches Espoused, 91. ^ Catechism, 23. 

ORDINANCES, perpetuity of in the churches. — 
Goodwin devotes the fifth chapter of his first book 
to demonstrating this doctrine ; proving it from the 



274 ORDINATION. 

existence of the ancient churches and from the de- 
clarations of the Scriptures. Bridge, in the preface 
to his Vindication of Ordinances, argues the sanc- 
tity of the Lord's day from the fact that religion 
flourishes most when it is most observed. He 
shows ^ that ordinarily men are converted under 
the public ministry. The alleged fact, that per- 
sons have greater enjoyment in private devotions 
than in public ordinances, is no more an argument 
against ordinances than it is against taking their 
daily food, because they may enjoy their private 
devotions more than their ordinary meals. 

1 Page 14. 

ORDINATION, ivhaU — Isaac Chauncy, in his 
Divine Institution of Congregational Churches,^ 
says : Ordination, in the Old or New Testament, 
applied to men, signifies the installing in the office 
to which they are called. In the places where our 
translators thus use the word, there is not the least 
mention of the imposition of hands, though the 
word rendered ordaining signifies the uplifting of 
the hands, by way of suffi'age, in the election 
of officers. Increase Mather, in his Sermon at the 
Ordination of Mr. Appleton,^ says : " Mutual elec- 
tion is that which doth essentiate the relation of a 
pastor to this or that particular church." Hall, in 
his Puritans and their Principles,' argues that to 
" ordain elders means simply to establish them," 
and has reference to no external ceremony. He 
demonstrates, by several references to Greek au- 
thors, that the word rendered ordaii^ed in Acts xiv. 



ORDINATION. 275 

23 refers to the election of the people by the lifting 
up of hands. Declaration of Discipline (probably 
Udal's), published in 1574, says in the table: " Or- 
dination is a solemn investing or installing into 
office." The point is discussed in ib. page 66. 
Cambridge Platform says : ^ " This ordination we 
account as nothing else but the solemn putting 
a man into his place and office in the church, to 
which he had a right before by election." The 
Congregational Manual says : ^ " Ordination is a 
public consecration of a man to the work of the 
ministry, an admission of him to the order of elders 
or bishops, and a solemn putting of him into his 
place and office as pastor of the church, like the 
installing of a magistrate." Dr. Watts, in his 
Foundation of a Christian Church,® shows that 
there is no instance of ordination recorded in Scrip- 
ture, save for extraordinary officers, and intimates 
that it is doubtful how many of these practices 
should now be retained. Hooker, in the preface to 
his Survey, says : " Ordination is the installing of 
an officer into office, to which he was previously 
called." — See Imposition of Hands ; Ordination, 
is any besides election indispensable ? by presbytery, 

^ Page 68. ^ in his Practical Truths, 122. ^ Page 305, 306, 
321. 4 Chap. ix. sect. 2. ^ Page 29. ^ Works, iii. 206. 

ORDINATION must be to a particular church by 
election, — This was maintained by Axton in the 
court of Archbishop Parker.* In the debates in 
the Westminster Assembly * is the question, whe- 
ther certain ministers in London may not be ap- 



276 ORDINATIOX. 

pointed to ordain others jure fraternitatis. The 
Independents dissented, unless the ordination was 
attended by the previous election of some church. 
It is asserted ^ that there was a debate in the same 
assembly, '• whether ordination might precede elec- 
tion to a particular cure or charge." Goodwin, 
Nye, Bridge, and the rest of the Independents, 
" replied to the arguments from the ordination of 
Timothy, Titus, and Apollos,*' that these were ex- 
traordinary officers ; and it appeared absurd to or- 
dain an officer without a province to exercise his 
office in. The grand difficulty lay here, that ordi- 
nation without election to a particular charge 
seemed to imply a conveyance of office-power, 
which, in their opinion, was attended with the diffi- 
culties of a lineal succession. The same doctrine 
is advanced in the Nonconformists' Directory in the 
days of Queen Elizabeth.^ Hooker, in the preface 
to his Survey, says : " There ought to be no ordi- 
nation of a pastor at large, i.e. such as should make 
him a pastor without a people." He ^ quotes seve- 
ral authors to show that the pastoral office is con- 
stituted by election. He also shows that in the 
beginning the people chose their officers, and then 
presented them to the apostles for ordination. The 
Declaration of Discipline asserts ^ that " ancient 
synods made a decree, that no man should be or- 
dained an elder without a title, that is, a church." 
The Congregational Manual proposes^ to adhere 
to these ancient usages, except in the case of mis- 
sionaries and professors in colleges and theological 
seminaries. Clemens Romanus ^ says : The apos- 



ORDINATION. 277 

ties ordained officers " with the good liking and 
consent of the church." The Savoy Confession, 
on the Institution of Churches, art. xv.,'' says : " Or- 
dination alone, without election, or a precedent 
consent of the church, . . . doth not constitute any 
person an officer, or consummate office-power unto 
him." Isaac Chauncy, in his Divine Institution of 
Congregational Churches,*'^ says : Christ never con- 
stituted sucR a ministry, but what were set in a 
particular church by election. The apostles were 
set first in the church at Jerusalem. If there be a 
catholic visible church, there should be a catholic 
visible pastor. Increase Mather, in his Vindica- 
tion,^^ shows at length that pastors may not be 
ordained except to particular churches. The con- 
trary was an innovation of the bishops. Many 
ancient councils objected against it, and deemed it 
null and void. Such an officer is a sinecure, and 
his particular church cannot depose him from his 
office. Rev. Stephen Badger was ordained a mis- 
sionary at Boston, with special reference to the 
Indians at Natick ; ^^ but he was called and or- 
dained the pastor of a church gathered there.^^ Dr. 
Coleman was thus ordained in London for Brattle- 
street Church, Boston, in 1699; but this excited 
opposition, and led one to call the church a " Pres- 
byterian brat."^^ — See Upham's Rat. Dis. 13, — 
See Evangelists. 

» In Neal's Puritans, i. 113. ^ ib. 494. 3 j^. n g. * lb. Ap- 
pendix, 440, 441. ^ Part ii. 40, 41. « Page 39. ^ Page 29. 
'' Epistle to the Corinthians, 23. ^ In Han. iii. 647. i^ Pages 
24 



278 ORDINATION. 

18, 19. " Pages 100—107. ^^ Title to Dr. Appleton's Ordination 
Serm. of id. ^^ Do. to Dr. Sewall's Charge, and Mr. Abbott's 
Right Hand to do. ^^ Eliot, Biog. Diet. 125. 

ORDINATION of missionaries. — See Evange- 
lists ; also the next preceding arricle ; also Upham's 
Rat. Dis. 86—94. 

The following has been kindly furnished by Rev. 
Dr. Anderson, Sec. A. B. C. F. M., for the stereo- 
type edition of this work : — * 

" The present usage in ordaining missionaries is 
not described with entire accuracy by Prof. Upham 
in his Ratio Disciplinae. At first, and for some 
time, the Prudential Committee were accustomed 
to call the ordaining council. But, for many years 
past, the whole matter of ordination has been left 
with the candidate to arrange with the church to 
wiich he belongs, or with some other church to 
which he sustains a protidential relation. The 
letters-missive are issued in the name of the church, 
inviting sister-churches to come, with their pastors, 
and ordain the candidate, if they think proper, as a 
missionary to the heathen. Where circumstances 
have been peculiar, the candidate has himself some- 
times communicated his wishes, by letter, to certain 
pastors and churches, and asked them to assemble 
and ordain him, in case they saw no objection. I 
am speaking of such as are ordained Congrega- 
tionally. The ordination of Presbyterian mission- 
aries is of course by their Presbyteries." * 

* The commnnication from which the above was taken was 
expected in season for a correction of the article Evangelists not 
to be ordained for the conversion of infidels. It seems that this 



ORDINATION. 279 

ORDINATION by direct succession unnecessary, — 
Owen, in his Nature of Schism/ inquires why in 
doctrine we should succeed the persecuted woman, 
while in office we must succeed the persecuting 
beast. In his Review of the same,^ he maintains 
that there should be a succession through the elders 
of the same church, where there are any, but not 
back through Rome. Hopkins^ argues for direct 
succession, and maintains, very inconclusively, that 
every minister may consider himself in direct suc- 
cession, in the absence of evidence to the contrary. 
See Ordination by ministers ; by the people. 

^ In Han. iii. 441. 2 15. 450. ^ System, ii. 233—240. 

article left the impression on the mind of Dr. A. that the authori- 
ties quoted would not allow missionaries the right of administering 
seals, gathering churches, &c., till they were actually constituted 
pastors of mission-churches. Now, Dr. Owen, in the immediate 
context to the quotation cited, expressly recognizes their right to 
this, founded on Acts xiii. and other passages. The simple ques- 
tion at issue is whether they should receive such ordination as to 
constitute them a distinct class of church officers ? They surely 
should possess all the authority which Barnabas had after he and 
Paul were separated to the work, unless the laying on of hands 
had connection with the imparting of miraculous gifts, (see Impo- 
sition OF Hands, is it necessary ?) and all which Luke had after that 
he was chosen {x^ipoTovrjddCt 2 Cor. viii. 19) or ordained of the 
churches to travel with Paul and Timothy. This seems to be very 
nearly imitated in our present missionary ordinations, according to 
the above article. The object of the author is simply to elicit 
inquiry as to the idea of office-power conferred on evangelists by 
ordination. The Congregational Dictionary is designed to be re- 
formatory and progressive in its influence, recognizing the Holy 
Scriptures as the only standard of authority. It is not appre- 
hended that this tends to any revolutionary movements, our 
churches being already based on the Rock of Ages, according t^ 
the divine word. 



280 ORDINATIOK. 

ORDINATION conveys no spiritual power. — Dr. 
Price * says of the Independents in the Westminster 
Assembly : " They were distinguished from the 
Presbyterians by . . . and denying the communica- 
tion of spiritual power in ordination." Hooker^ 
maintains that Timothy received not office-power, 
but spiritual gifts, by the laying on of Paul's and 
the presbytery's hands. He is exhorted to stir up, 
not his office-power, but the gift that was in him. 
Imposition of hands did not add to his office, but 
only confirmed it. — See Imposition of Hands. 

^ In Neal's Puritans, i. 462, note. ^ Survey, part ii. 66 — 59. 

ORDINATION, is a council necessary to ? ^ — R. 
Mather ^ says : " It is the practice, in ordaining and 
deposing ministers, to call in the aid of other 
churches ; but it is not lawful nor convenient to call 
in such assistance (viz. by way of authority or 
power of the ministers of other churches)." Cotton^ 
says, the Presbytery of that church, if they have 
one, if not two or three others of the gravest of the 
brethren, being deputed by the body, ordain him, 
with imposition of hands. He says : ^ " Ordination 
is a work of church power. . . . The power of the 
keys is a liberty purchased to the church by the blood 
of Christ,^^ and should not be parted with at a less 
price. The views of the fathers undoubtedly were, 
that a council was very desirable for advice, and 
safety from impostors, but that the power of ordi- 
nation was in the church. — See Ordination by the 
people. 

1 Ch. Gov. and Ch. Gov. 41. « Way, 41. ^ ib. 50. 



ORDINATION. 281 

ORDINATION, none besides election indispensable. 
Archbishop Cranmer took this ground in an early 
period of the English Reformation. He says : ^ 
" He that is appointed a bishop or a priest needeth 
no consecration by the Scriptures; for election or 
appointing thereto is sufficient." Cambridge Plat- 
form ^ says: "The essence and substance of the 
outward call of an ordinary officer doth not consist 
in his ordination, but in his voluntary and free elec- 
tion by the church, and his accepting of that rela- 
tion. . . . Ordination doth not constitute an officer, 
nor give him the essentials of his office. The 
apostles were elders without imposition of hands 
by men. Paul and Barnabas were officers before 
that imposition of hands." Owen, in his Nature 
of a Gospel Church, chap, iv.,^ shows that the 
elders were ordained by the choosing of them by 
the people, by the lifting up of their hands, accord- 
ing to the Greek of Acts xiv. 23. He maintains, 
however,'* that they should be solemnly set apart; 
and says that the light of nature proclaims this, as 
it does the coronation of kings, which gives them 
not their title, but proclaims it. At an ordaining 
council at Concord in 1637, it was decided, that, 
upon election, ministers were such before they were 
ordained.^ Isaac Chauncy, however, held to the 
necessity of ordination. He says : ^ " The consum- 
mation of a call is made by the free acceptance 
of the person called ; but this doth not constitute 
a person in the ministerial office, any more than a 
private contract doth constitute man and wife." 
Increase Mather, in his Sermon at the Ordination 

24* 



282 ORDINATION. 

of Mr. Appleton/ and Mr. Pemberton, in his Dis- 
course at the Ordination of Mr. Sewall,^ hold the 
same doctrine. See Samuel Mather's Apology 
chap. ii. ; Upham's Rat. Dis. Ill ; Robinson's 
"Works, iii. 39. — See Calling ; Translation. 

^ In Punchard's Hist. 200. ^ Chap. ix. sect. 2. ^ Works, xx. 
415. 4 lb. 424. ^ Winthrop, i. 217. ^ Divine Inst. Cong. 
Churches, 65, "^ In his Practical Truths, 124. ^ Page 3. 

ORDINATION by ministers. — Robinson, in his 
Justification,^ says : " We acknowledge, that, in the 
right and orderly state of things, no ministers are to 
be ordained but by ministers. ... If ordination had 
been so prime a work, Paul would have tarried 
himself in Crete to have ordained elders there, and 
sent Titus, an inferior officer, about the inferior 
work of preaching." To this agrees Congregational 
practice everywhere. Ministers seem the proper 
persons for such public performances ; but when 
this practice is perverted to mean that the officiat- 
ing ministers give the church a minister or withhold 
him at pleasure, are more than counsellors, and 
control more than their own acts, then it is time for 
the churches to stand fast in their liberty ; as they 
did in various instances in the early settlement of 
Massachusetts and Connecticut. (See two preced- 
ing and two succeeding articles.) Dr. Stiles ^ says : 
"It was a mistaken notion of our fathers, that the 
power of ordination was in the church by the 
elders;" (might not the church then be overruled 
in their choice ?) " also that, where there are no 
elders, it might be performed by delegated breth- 



OEDINATION. 283 

ren." He traces all through the bishops, and thus 
argues a lineal succession via Rome. Though the 
bishops did not intend to impart to presbyters the 
power of ordaining, yet they did (by unintentional 
contagion, I suppose !) give them full presbyterial 
powers. " Dead flies ! " Rev. Joseph Webb, in 
his Letter to Cotton Mather,^ expresses great fears 
of the evils growing out of the lay-ordinations. 
But, in the Letter of the Boston Ministers on the 
Duty of the Distressed Churches, they scout these 
fears, saying : ^ " They will have none owned for 
ministers of Christ but such as Antichrist has or- 
dained for him, such as the paw of the beast hath 
been laid upon, that they pretend succession from." 
Barrowe, in his Discovery of a False Church,^ 
shows that to make ordination pertain to ministers 
only, is a " trick to stop " a real election by the 
people, and make it really depend upon the classis, 
while the people have their eyes blinded in the 
matter. 

* In Han. i. 215 ; and Punchard's Hist. 333 ; and Works, ii. 
430, 437. 2 Election Serm. 59—64. -^ In Hist. Soc. Col. series ii. 
vol. ii. 132, 133. ^ ib. 134. 5 j^ Han. i. 47. 

ORDINATION by presbytery. — Goodwin says:^ 
" The Scriptures in plain terms attribute the act of 
ordination to a presbytery, i.e. a company of elders 
united in that relation " (referring to the elders of 
one particular church). His definition, however, 
virtually begs the question. The chapter on dis- 
cipline in the Savoy Confession says:^ " The way 
of ordaining officers is, . . . after their election by 



284 ORDINATION. 

the suffrage of the church, to set them apart with 
fasting and prayer and imposition of hands of the 
eldership of the church ; though, if there be no im- 
position of hands, they are nevertheless rightly 
constituted ministers of Christ." Barro\ye, in his 
Refutation of Giffard,^ says : " It is to be performed 
by the eldership of the church, if there be one in 
it ; if not, by the help of the elders of some other 
faithful congregation." Richard Mather, in his Re- 
ply to Rathband,^ says : " We willingly do grant, 
that, where elders are not wanting, imposition of 
hands is to be performed by the elders." So say 
the Independents in the Westminister Assembly.* 
" There is a sufficient presbytery (for ordination) in 
every congregation." Cambridge Platform^ says : ^ 
"In such churches where there are elders, imposi 
tion of hands in ordination is to be performed by 
those elders." It was thus that Mr. Cotton was 
installed in Boston.'^ Isaac Chauncy ^ argues, that, 
as " the elders of one church cannot perform an 
authoritative act in another church," therefore, if 
ordination is to be by elders at all, it should be by 
elders of the same church. Increase Mather ^ main- 
tains that it is one of the fundamentals of Congre- 
gationalism, that ordination of pastors must be by 
the approbation of neighbor-churches or elders. He 
states ^^ that it was an old doctrine in New Eng- 
land, that a church which has no elders should 
desire neighbor-churches to assist in ordination. 
He supposes lay-ordination not decent, though 
valid, because no imposition of hands is necessary, 
but only election. Mr. Pemberton, in his Discourse 



OKDINATION". 285 

at the Ordination of Mr. Sewall, maintains " that 
the power of ordination is in the presbytery. — See 
Imposition of Hands ; Installation. 

» Ch. Gov. 54. 2 In Neal's Puritans, ii. 179. ^ In Han. i. 57. 
4 lb. ii. 186. * ^ lb. 511. ^ Chap. ix. sect. 3. ^ Hubbard's Hist, 
of Mass. 188. ^ Divine Inst, of Cong. Churches, 69. ^ Yindic. of 
N. Eng. Churches, 8. ^^ lb. 100. ^^ Page 11. 

ORDINATION by the people, — Barrowe, in his 
Answer to Giffard/ says : " If the apostacy be so 
general that there are not anywhere to be found any 
true elders, yet then hath the church . . . power to 
ordain their ministers by the most fit members and 
means they have." The Confession of the Low 
Country Exiles, art. xxiii.,^ says : " Every Christian 
congregation hath power and commandment to 
elect and ordain their own ministry." Ainsworth, 
in his Reply to Johnson,^ says : " That ministers of 
one particular church should ordain elders for an- 
other church is more unorderly than when every 
church ordaineth them itself." Davenport, in his 
Power of Congregational Churches,^ says : " Their 
ordination of officers, by deputing some out of their 
own body thereunto ... in a want of officers, is an 
act of this power of the keys residing in them." 
Richard Mather and W. Tompson, Answer to 
Herle,^ say: "Where elders cannot conveniently be 
borrowed from any other church, imposition of 
hands may lawfully be performed by some principal 
men of the congregation, though they be not elders 
by office." So also Mather's Reply to Rutherford,^ 
Propositions attributed to John Cotton,^ and the 



286 ORDINATION. 

Petition of the Independents in the Westminster 
Assembly.^ In the grand debate in the Westmin- 
ster Assembly,^ " the Independents maintained the 
right of every congregation -to ordain its own 
officers;" and when it was voted "that no single 
congregation, that can conveniently associate, as- 
sume to itself the sole right of ordination," Thomas 
Goodwin, P. Nye, J. BmToughs, S. Simpson, W. 
Bridge, W. Greenhill, and W. Carter entered their 
dissent. Cambridge Platform ^° maintains the 
same doctrine. Hooker ^^ says : " It is most comely 
that those of the same congregation should exer- 
cise it" (ordination), but they may invite others. 
He ^^ reiterates the same sentiment, and shows that 
if a classis is composed of those sent by churches, 
then congregations first provided ministers, for they 
did not first receive them from classes ; and, if pres- 
byters first made a bishop, they were before him, 
and did not receive their office from him. Hutchin- 
son, in his History of Massachusetts,^^ says : " The 
church in Charlestown chose Mr. Wilson for their 
teacher, and ordained him;" and^^ "Mr. Higgin- 
son was ordained by two deacons and a private 
brother in Salem," though it appears that they had 
sent for a delegation from Plymouth, who were de- 
tained. Mr. Hooke was ordained at Taunton by a 
schoolmaster and one of the other brethren.^^ There 
was such an ordination, in 1642, in Woburn. A 
number of ministers were present ; but " the people 
were tenacious of their right to ordain, supposing 
that yielding it might lead to dependency, and so 
to presbytery." ^^ Another, Israel Chauncy's, took 



ORDINATION. 287 

place in Stratford, where, Eliot says," " by forgetful- 
ness (I rather think in contempt of habits and cere- 
monies) the elder imposed his hand with a leather 
mitten upon it." Cotton Mather, in his Magnalia,^^ 
represents ordination by " lay-brethren, orderly cho- 
sen by the church thereunto," as having, in his time, 
gone into disuse. Samuel Mather, in his Apology,^ ^ 
shows that the Bohemian Churches commenced on 
this (lay-ordination) principle; and^^ he shows that 
"even a famous bishop of Salisbury" held it in his 
Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles. He argues 
the point at length and very conclusively ; ^* and 
indeed in the whole of his second chapter. Watts, 
in his Foundation of a Christian Church,^^ shows 
that popular ordination is valid, and sometimes 
necessary, but not often expedient. Davenport, in 
his Power of Congregational Churches,^^ says : The 
churches have power to ordain their own officers by 
some deputed out of their own number, in case of 
the want of officers. Isaac Chauncy^* answers 
the question : " Who shall ordain when there are 
no elders?" saying: "Who should do it but the 
church that called him?" The power is in the 
church, if necessary, to lay on hands by some 
brother delegated and appointed thereto ; for foreign 
ministers cannot do an authoritative act in that 
church. He argues ** that the church is superior to 
all the ministers thereof; hence that the church may 
ordain them : and that ^^ a person should be or- 
dained by the church that calls him, being no more 
than the public solemn recognition of their call and 
his acceptance. It ought to be performed decent Iv 



288 ORDINATION. 

and to the honor of God, with solemn puayer ; dele- 
gates from other churches being present as wit- 
nesses. Increase Mather, in his Vindication of the 
New England Churches,^^ quotes from Owen : 
" Where elders cannot be had, ordination may be 
performed by those not elders." Lambert, in his 
History of New Haven Colony,-^ says, Mr. Pradden, 
of Milford, records his own ordination by three 
brethren, " designed by y^ church for that work, y® 
18 of April, 1640." Bentley, in his Description of 
Salem,^^ shows that the church there, in the begin- 
ning, determined that the authority of ordination 
should not rest in the ministry, but depend entirely 
on the free election of the church. They were care- 
ful to record that they acknowledged no jurisdiction 
in the church of Plymouth, when they invited them 
to Mr. Higginson's ordination. Eliot, in his Eccle- 
siastical BQstory of Massachusetts,^^ says that in 
1642 Mr. Carter was ordained in Woburn by the 
church, who would not call the elders of other 
churches to do it, lest it should lead to presbytery and 
dependence of churches. Dr. Eckley, in his Dudlean 
Lecture,^^ says : '^ We differ from our episcopal 
brethren as respects the right of any particular 
church to elect and consecrate its own officers, no 
less than to perform the other acts of jurisdiction, 
without the aid of presbyters, bishops, or pastors of 
other churches ; and to the special propriety of these 
measures, whenever, through any extraordinary oc- 
currences, the assistance of such ministers cannot 
be obtained. . . . Not only the independence, but the 
very existence, of a Christian society would be lost, 



ORDINATION. 289 

in the event of its denial." Hunter, in his Life of 
Oliver Heywood,^^ asserts that it is a fundamental 
principle of Congregationalism, that it was not the 
intention of the founders of Christianity that all 
who take upon them the Christian name should 
form one vast society; but that every organized 
society, with pastor and deacon, was a true Christian 
church, which may call a pastor, and invest him 
with office, without ordination by bishop or any 
body of presbyters ; though ministers might witness 
the act, and make (invoke) a divine blessing upon 
it. He asserts ^^ that Goodwin, Bridge, Nye, Simp- 
son, and Burroughs were nearly of this opinion. 
Letchford, in his Plain Dealing,^^ says : '' They ap- 
point some of themselves to impose hands on their 
officers." And ^^ " Mr. Hooke was ordained in 
Taunton by a schoolmaster," and Mr. Hooke joined 
in ordaining Mr. Streate. He says^^ that the elder^ 
in Boston replied to his question, saying : " If the 
people have power to choose their own officers, they 
have power to ordain them." Upham, in his Dedi- 
cation Sermon,^^ says : " The Salem church them- 
selves laid hands on their ruling elder; he on the 
teacher, and both in the same form on their pastor." 
In the Appendix to the same,'^ he reiterates Eliot's 
above-quoted assertion relative to the power of or- 
dination residing in the people, and asserts ^^ that 
when John Higginson was ordained, in 1660, 
" Major Hawthorne and the deacons imposed hands 
upon him, in the presence of the neighboring 
churches and elders." The same is repeated in his 
Second Century Sermon, page 39, and Eliot's Bio- 

25 



290 ORDINATION. 

graphical Dictionary 255. Dr. Emmons*^ says: 
" People have a right to choose their own officers, 
and then install them into office. . . . The right is 
primarily and solely in the church ; and when minis- 
ters ordain, it is because they are invited and ap- 
pointed by the church to do it." So, too, Ains- 
worth, in his Answer to Clyfton;^^ and Lord Brooke, 
in his Discourse on Episcopacy,^^ — See Bacon's 
Ch. Manual, 138, 139. — See Imposition of Hands, 
by whom ; Councils, can they ordain and depose ? 

1 In Han. i. 58. ^ ib. 94. ^ lb. 252. ^ ib. ii. 64. ^ lb. 175. 
6 lb. 188. 7 lb. 578. 8 lb. iii. 44. 9 In Neal's Puritans, ii. 8. 
10 Chap. ix. sect. 5. ^^ Survey, part ii. 59. ^^ Ib. 78. ^^ Vol. 1. 
370. ^4 Page 374. ^^ Ib. ^^ Hubbard, 408. ^^ ^liot, Biog. Diet. 
101. 13 Vol. ii. 209. 19 Page 58. ^o jb. 60. ^i Pages 56—60. 
22 Wks. iii. 210. 23 Page 104. 24 p)iy. i^st. Cong. Chs. 70. 25 ib. 
72. 26 lb. 78—83. 27 Page 96. 2s page loi. ^In Hist. Soc. 
Col. series i. vol. vi. 242. ^° In ib. series i. vol. ix. 39. ^^ Pages 
15, 16. 32 Page 58. ^a ib. 39. 34 i^ Hist. Soc. Col. series iii. 
vol. iii. 64. ^5 Ib. 96. ^6 jb. 108. ^7 page 22. ^ Page 52. ^^ Ib. 
65. 40 Yol. V. 448—450. *' In Han. i. 252. ^a jb. u. 126. 

ORDINATION, mode o/.— Cotton Mather^ de- 
scribes it as differing in his day from the present 
usual mode, in that the letter missive often desig- 
nated persons to perform the several parts, except 
the right hand of fellowship. Usually the person 
ordained preached ; sometimes another. The vote 
of the church and the acceptance of the call were 
repeated at the ordination. (This was practised 
since the remembrance of the compiler.) Hands 
were also imposed during the giving of the charge, 
and a prayer succeeded it. Isaac Chauncy, in his 
Divine Institution of Congregational Churches, 



ORDINATION. 291 

shows ^ that a ruling elder or delegated brother (of 
the church) repeats the questions as to the call and 
acceptance ; the brethren voting by the lifting up 
of the hand, the pastor elect assenting. Eliot, in 
his Ecclesiastical History of Massachusetts,^ shows 
that at first there was no sermon at ordination, 
though afterwards the minister ordained usually 
preached. (He attributes the change to John Cot- 
ton.) Mr. John Higginson preached his own ordi- 
nation sermon in 1660 ; Thomas Prince, in 1718 ; 
(five years before, Mr. Pemberton discoursed at 
the ordination of Mr. Sewall, his colleague ;) ^ Mr. 
Maccarty at Worcester, in 1747. Mr. Rogers of Ips- 
wich ^ preached at his own ordination as early as 
1638. For modern mode, see Upham's Rat. Dis. 
117 ; Punchard's View, 164. — See Church, mode 
of constituting. 

1 Rat. Dis. 22—42. ^ Page 82. ^ i^ Hist. Soc. Col. series i. 
vol. ix. 13. ^ The printed discourse itself. ^ Eliot, Biog. Diet 
408. 

ORDINATION, method of keeping a day of — 
Cotton^ shows that it was kept with preaching, 
prayer, humiliation, and fasting, "till near the close 
of the day," when the ordination-services were per- 
formed. The Description of the Visible Church,^ 
and Mather's Rat. Dis.^ maintain that " it should 
be kept as a sacred fast unto the Lord." 

^ Way, 40. ^ in Punchard's Hist. 366. ' Page 24. 

ORDINATION, mode of objecting to. — A coun- 
cil at Springfield,* about 1736, decided that they 



292 PASTOR. 

expected the dissatisfied should not only present 
objections but proofs, and that there should not be 
a public hearing of the matter, unless some ap- 
peared as accusers. 

^ Ans. to Hampshire Xarr. 59, 64—67. 

ORDINATION, should it be repeated ? — Isa^ic 
Channcy says ^ that the contrary " conceit ... is a 
Popish error ; for churches are no more prisons to 
ministers than to people, . . . and one church's ordi- 
nation of a man cannot make him pastor of an- 
other." 

^ Divine Inst. Cong. Churches, 83. 

PARISH, not a Christian church. — Euring, in 
his Answer to Drake's Ten Counter Demands,^ 
shows this conclusively : " Your parish assemblies 
do not gladly receive the apostles' doctrine." — See 
Upham's Rat. Dis. 38, 317—323. 

1 In Han. i. 362, 363. 

PASTOR, his official duties. — The True Descrip- 
tion of the Visible Church ^ describes them some- 
what figuratively. I epitomize thus, — To feed the 
sheep ; guide and keep them ; draw them to him ; 
look into their souls; discern their diseases; cure 
them by appropriate medicine ; give warning, that 
they may orderly proceed to excommunication ; 
watch over and defend the flock. Cambridge Plat- 
form^ distinguishes his office from that of teacher, 
in that it is the pastor's special work to attend to 
exhortation, and that of the teacher to doctrine ; 



PASTOR. 293 

and either of them to administer seals, and preach 
the gospel. Goodwin refines at large on the dis- 
tinction.^ Jacob's Church Confession^ maintains 
that he should be trusted to rule in all ordinary 
affairs of the church ; " yet so that, in matters of 
weight, the whole congregation (i.e. church) do un- 
derstand thereof, before any thing be finished, and 
also that the congregation do not manifestly dissent 
therefrom. Owen, in his EshcoL or Rules of Walk- 
ing in Fellowship, rule vii.^ maintains, from Acts 
xiv. 27, their right to call the church together. In 
his Nature of a Gospel Church, chap, v.^ he makes 
his duties to be, to preach the word, pray for the 
flock, administer seals, and'^ visit the sick. He 
argues ^ that it is not the pastor^s duty to go up and 
down preaching for the conversion of strangers, 
though he occasionally should. Hooker, in his 
Survey,^ makes it his duty to work on the will and 
affections, to win and woo the soul, to lay open the 
loathsome nature of sin, and quicken the renewed 
soul to every holy work. Davenport, in his Apolo- 
getical Reply ,^^ argues that pastors govern by feed- 
ing the church of God, not by having the church 
depend on their authority. He quotes Ames on 
1 Pet. V. 3 to sustain him. From the votes of the 
church and doings of a council in Dorchester,** it 
appears that in 1774 the church negatived the mo- 
tion of the pastor for a church meeting, at a given 
time ; that the pastor refused to attend another 
church meeting, because it was not of his appoint- 
ment ; that the church refused to proceed to busi- 
ness at another time, when called to by the pastor ; 

25* 



294 PASTOR. 

that he attempted to dissolve a church meeting by 
his ovm power, and that he frequently refused to 
attend church meetings which he declined to ap- 
point. The council did not sustain the pastor. 

1 In Punchard's Hist. 368. « Page 30. ^ ch. Gov. book vi. 
chap. viii. ^ Art. xiy. in Han. i. 298. ° Works, xix. 77. ^ lb. 
XX. 433. 7 lb. 4-50. '^Ib. 445. ^ Part ii. 19, 20. ^^ Page 298. 
" Pages 5—8. 

Px^STOR, has he a negative vote in the church ? — 
Increase Mather, in his Disquisition on Ecclesiastical 
Councils,^ incidentally intimates that the Platform 
gives him this power. Eliot, in his Ecclesiastical 
History of Massachusetts,^ says : " After the Plat- 
form, some ministers claimed more than it gave 
them, and some claimed a power to negative the 
proceedings of the church." Zabdiel Adams, in 
his Answer to a Treatise on Church Government,^ 
says : " The keys are so lodged with elders and 
brethren as never to be used but by mutual con- 
sent." He maintains,^ that, since ruling elders have 
ceased, the whole power of the bench of elders rests 
with the pastor. Eliot ^ asserts that in these mat- 
ters he took a position which could not be main- 
tained by the Platform, nor any just sentiments of 
religious freedom. See also Allen's Biographical 
Dictionary, art. Adams, Zabdiel. The History of 
Sterling ^ shows, that Mr. Mellen held, that, if there 
were some to rule, there were others to obey; and 
applied it to the negative vote, causing much trou- 
ble and his own dismission. President Stiles, who 
was extensively acquainted with the churches,^ 



PASTOB. 295 

says : I know of no more than one church, where 
the pastor has a negative vote. Some pastors have 
claimed it over Congregational churches ; but, ex- 
cept being moderator, the pastor has but the autho- 
rity of a private brother, according to the true prin- 
ciples of Congregationalism. He says : ^ " The 
churches would not bear a negative of the elder- 
ship." Dr. Emmons ^ says, if the pastor might 
negative all the doings and votes of the church, 
they would have no power at all. He is a mere 
moderator, and, with respect to voting, stands on 
the same ground with a private brother. See Up- 
ham's Rat. Dis. 83 — 85, 107. — See Churches begun 
without officers^ Sfc; Members have equal rights; 
Majorities. 

1 Page 14. 2 In Hist. Soc. Col. ^ page 83. 4 jb. 76—80. 
* Biog. Diet. 17, 18. ^ In Wor. Mag. ii. ^ Conv. Serm. 68. « lb. 
64. 9 Vol. V. 451, 452. 

PASTOR, power to elect him is in the church. — 
Cotton ^ says, that, though his office is from Christ, 
the power to elect is in the church. But he as- 
serts,^ that they do it with the approbation of other 
churches, because in the multitude of counsellors 
there is safety. He quotes ^ Cyprian, lib. i. epist. 41 : 
^'People have the power of choosing worthy bishops, 
and of rejecting the unworthy." Clemens Roma- 
nus ^ says the apostles appointed officers " with the 
good liking and consent of the church." Robinson, 
in his Answer to Helwisse,* says : " For the choice 
of officers, we do take for our direction the practice 
of the apostles and apostolical churches, grounded 



296 PASTOR. 

on perpetual equity, that men should choose them 
under Christ, unto whose faithfulness, under the 
same Christ, they are to commit their souls." This 
doctrine is maintained in the Apology of the Over- 
seers, &c. of the English Church at Amsterdam. 
Foxcroft, in his Sermon Preparatory to the Choice 
of a Minister,^ asserts that " none but members 
have a just right to vote in ecclesiastical affairs. . . . 
A good deal of prudence is necessary to consult 
the congregation, while the right of the church to 
election is asserted and exercised." Dr. Ware, in 
his History of the Old North and New Brick 
Churches,^ asserts that Cotton Mather's church, in 
1697, sent a letter of admonition to the church in 
Charlestown, for betraying the liberties of the 
churches, by putting into the hands of the whole 
inhabitants the choice of a minister. — See Elders 
chosen by the people ; Officers chosen by the people, 

1 Way, 43. ^ Jb. 45. 3 j^. 64. ^ Epistle to the Corinthians, 
23. 5 In Punchard's Hist. 338 ; and Works, iii. 135. ^ Pages 17, 
20. 7 Page 18. 



PASTOR, mode of election of — Cotton Mather ' 
shows the mode of proceeding in his time, much as 
at the present day, first by the church, and then by 
the parish concurring, as described by Mitchell in 
his Guide, 175, 176. Barrowe, in his Refutation 
of Giffard,^ asserts that every member should have 
the privilege of assent or dissent, showing his rea- 
sons. — See Punchard's View, 114. 

^ Eat. Dis. 14—22. ^ in Han. i. 57. 



PASTOR. 297 

PASTOR, how dismissed. — See Minister, how 
dismissed; also Punchard's View, 175. Some spe- 
cial cases might be cited, as those of Bolton and 
Stirling; but it would seem much more necessary 
to inform people generally how to keep^ than how 
to dismiss^ a pastor. 

PASTOR should not be lightly removed, — Cam- 
bridge Association ^ intimated that God frowns on 
rash removals of ministers. They, however, admit 
that they may be removed, " when benefit from 
their ministry is to be despaired of ; ... in case it be 
necessary for the common good; ... in case they 
want sustenance, ... or have chronical diseases 
which may not be removed." Owen, in his Nature 
of a Gospel Church, chap, v.,^ says the ancient 
church made great provisions against it. He thinks, 
however, that there may be occasions for their re- 
moval, with the consent of all concerned. A pastor 
cannot voluntarily lay down his office for mere age 
or weakness, because he is not required to do more 
than he can ; nor for weariness and despondency. 
But it is lawful on an incurable decay of mental 
abilities, incurable divisions in a church, neglect of 
support, or when the church will not do important 
duties. He may then retire to private life, or take 
office in another church. Cotton Mather, in his 
Ratio Disciplinse,^ shows that the translation of a 
pastor was then accomplished with the greatest 
difficulty. He should have it in his heart to live 
and die with his people. When there was but one 
pastor, and he ever so great, and his people ever so 



298 PASTOR. 

small, nobody scarce durst whisper about his remo- 
val. The people were jealous of such efforts, as 
though Robbers of Churches were assaulting 
them. But in some cases a council have recom- 
mended a removal, notwithstanding the people's 
dissent. Eliot, in his Ecclesiastical History of Mas- 
sachusetts,^ says that the magistrates and ministers 
aided in the removal of Mr. Norton to Boston, 
thinking that it would be an advantage to have him 
here. Wisner, in his History of the Old South 
Church, informs us^ that the church in New Haven 
would not dismiss Mr. Davenport ; but, as he would 
not be persuaded, they would not further oppose 
him. And ^ they " ceased, saying. The will of the 
Lord be done." They left him and the church in 
Boston to make what use of it (their inaction) they 
could, without giving him a letter, though they dis- 
missed his wife and son and son's wife. Dr. Ware 
informs us, in his History of the Old North and 
New Brick Churches,'^ that the New Brick Church 
grew out of a controversy about calling a minister 
already settled (Rev. Peter Thacher of Weymouth). 
The ministers of Boston opposed, and requested 
not to be invited on the ordaining council. The 
Boston ministers, in connection with their answer 
to a question, say ^ that they look on such removals 
as directly tending to unsettle and disquiet churches. 
See Upham's Rat. Dis. 161—164. 

1 In Magnal. ii. 215. ^ Works, xx. 458, 459. ^ Pages 167—170. 
4 In Hist. Soc. Col. series i. vol. ix. 30. ^ Page 7. ^ lb. 75. 
7 Pages 25, 26. ^ Objections to the Rev. Peter Thacher's Ordi- 
nation, 22. 



PASTOR. 299 

PASTOR, is he censurable by his church ? — Rich- 
ard Mather, in his Church Government and Church 
Covenant,^ argues that every pastor is censurable 
by his own church. Robinson, in his Answ^er to 
Bernard,^ says : " If elders . . . may displace a pas- 
tor by their authority, they may also set him up by 
their authority." The Low Country Exiles, in their 
Confession, art. xxiii.^ maintain the same doctrine, 
and add : " Yea, if the case so require, to cut them 
off by excommunication." Ainsworth, in his An- 
swer to Clyfton,^ argues that his people (who put 
him in) may put him out of the pastoral office; 
" and why may they not put him quite out of the fold 
of Christ, that is, excommunicate him?" Jacob's 
Church Confession, article xiv.^ says : " They have 
nothing more than what the church doth commit 
unto them, and which they may not, when need re- 
quireth, take away from them, yea, to their utter 
deposing and rejection out of the church itself, if 
such necessity be." Davenport, in his power of 
Congregational Churches,^ says: " Nor doth it make 
the people rulers of their rulers, . . . that the church 
hath power over them, in case of delinquency ; for 
excommunication is not an act of the highest rule, 
but of the highest judgment. ... If the ministers 
become delinquents, then, as members, they are 
under the whole." Wise, in his Quarrel of the 
Churches Espoused,^ comments pointedly on the 
first " Proposals " to take Congregational ministers 
from the watch and discipline of their churches, 
and commit them to associations. Hooker, in his 
Survey,^ says, every brother, and therefore Archip- 



300 PASTOR. 

pus the elder, if he be a brother, is liable to church 
censure. Samuel Mather, in his Apology,^ quotes 
Zanchy : " No one is exempted from this discipline, 
whether he be an elder or pastor or magistrate, 
unless he would be exempted from the number of 
the brethren, and therefore of the sons of God." 
Goodwin, in his Catechism,^^ says : " If Peter him- 
self offend, and Peter will not hear thee, tell the 
church of Peter : Christ alone and his church is king 
and judge in such a case." Isaac Chauncy, in his 
Divine Institution of Congregational Churches;" 
Eaton and Taylor, in their Defence ; ^^ and Baynes, 
in his Diocesan's Trial,^^ argue in the same strain. 
Mitchell, in his Guide,^* supposes that the doctrine 
of Saybrook Platform, which gives discipline to 
associations in such cases, is the general usage. If 
so, it must be by recent innovation. Cambridge 
Platform, after showing how he may be deposed by 
his church,^^ adds : " And being now but a mem- 
ber, . . . the church, that had power to receive him 
into their fellowship, hath also the same power to 
cast him out that they have concerning any other 
member." It is obvious that a minister ought 
still to be amenable somewhere, and not to cease 
to be a member of Christ's church. See Upham's 
Rat. Dis. 170, 176; Punchard's View, 182, 270.— 
See next article ; see also Churches, proceedings 
when pastors offend ; Ministers, Vioi^ deposed, 

^ Page 48. ^ In Punchard's Hist. 331, 332 ; and Works, ii. 
239. 3InHan. i. 94. * ib. 251. ^ lb. 297. ^ ib. ii. 65. 'Pages 
118—120. 8 Part iii. 3. » Page 98. ^^ Page 23. " Page 104. 
1* Page 58. is pag© 88. ^^ Pages 232—235. ^^ Chap. x. sect. 6. 



PASTOR. 801 

PASTOR, is he a member of his church ? — Welde, 
in his Answer to Rathband,^ says it is our universal 
and constant course not to organize a church till 
they have one amongst themselves fit for a minister, 
whom, with all speed, they call into office. Cotton 
Mather, in his Ratio Disciplinse,^ .speaking of elec- 
tion and ordination, says : " There is a seasonable 
care taken, that, if the candidate were a member 
of some other church, he have his dismission (his 
relation declared to be transferred) ; that, as near as 
may be, according to the primitive direction, they 
may choose from among themselves." Cotton, in 
his Way,^ says, destitute churches look out from 
among themselves such as are qualified to be offi- 
cers. Isaac Chauncy, in his Divine Institution of 
Congregational Churches,^ says the person called 
ought to be a member; for to constitute a non- 
member in office is contrary to the rules of any 
corporate society. So^ "none can be an officer of 
a corporation, but he that is incorporate first as a 
member." Dr. Dwight^ maintains that a pastor 
should not be a member of his church. Mitchell, in 
his Guide,^ has a chapter on the membership of 
ministers, and complains severely of Upham for as- 
serting that they are members and censurable by the 
brethren, denying that such is general usage, unless 
in Upham's own locality. He thinks him to have 
been influenced by consulting old writers. His well- 
informed readers may think so too, especially by 
Trumbull's Connecticut, which shows that the Say- 
brook plan was not claimed in the beginning, even 
by its friends, to be pure Congregationalism. See 
26 



302 PEACE. 

Upham's Rat. Dis. 127—130; Piinchard's View, 
270 — 272. — See last preceding article, particularly 
quotation from Cambridge Platform ; also Conso- 
ciations. 

1 In Han. ii. 329. ^ Page 22. ^ page 39. * Page 65. ^ lb. 
104. « Works, Serm. olvii. ' Pages 237—242. 

f 

PASTOR, colleague. — My. Foxcroft settled as 
colleague with Mr. Wadsworth in 1717,^ and Dr. 
Chauncy was ordained colleague with Mr. Foxcroft 
in 1727.^ Mr. Foxcroft, the senior pastor, was then 
but thirty years of age. Previous to about this 
time, the distinction had usually been that of Pas- 
tor and Teacher. 

* Mr. Poxcroft's Sermon at his own Ordination. ^ Sermon of 
ib. preparatory to the Choice of a Minister. 

PEACE. — This has always been considered by 
Congregationalists as very desirable, so far as it 
may consist with truth ; but the doctrine of the 
league with iniquity seems to be a modern whim. 
Burroughs, in his Irenicum,^ says: "Let us all be 
for peace, yet so not to be befooled into bondage by 
the name of peace. Now God hath by his mighty 
arm helped us, let us not be put off with a bubble, 
and made to believe that it is the pearl. We know 
with whom we have to deal." This was written at 
the time that Cromwell's army began to make their 
power dreaded by the Presbyterial domination, to 
whom the Independents had been recently petition- 
ing in vain for a mere toleration. — See Resistance. 

1 In Han. iii. 125. 



PERSECUTION. 303 

PERFECTION in churches impracticable, — Ro- 
binson, in his Apology/ says : " Foolish were we, 
if we knew not these things ; impudent, if we de- 
nied them to be true ; and unequal, if we acknow- 
ledged not . . . that many . • . blemishes . . . will 
creep into churches in our days." Even so rigid a 
Separatist as Canne says, in his Reply to Dayrel : ^ 
" Whereas Mr. Barrowe, Ainsworth, and others do 
show from the Scriptures what a true church is, 
whereof gathered, how every member should w^alk, 
and how abuses are to be reformed, &c. ; he either, 
through ignorance or malice, or both, still inferreth 
from their writings, that they held perfection of 
churches ; that there can be no hypocrite or repro- 
bate in the church ; things groundlessly collected 
by him." And even Roger Williams, in his Hire- 
ling Ministry None of Christ's,^ says : "God hath 
covered the failings, and accepted his own grace, in 
such men as Calvin, Luther, &c., as he did the poly- 
, gamy and sin of the patriarchs of Israel." 

^ In Han. i. 386 ; and Works, iii. 72. '^ lb. 521. = Page 10. 

PERSECUTIOlsr, what amount of^ justifies disper- 
sion ? — Goodwin, in his Church Government,' 
maintains that the spoiling of goods is not a suffi- 
cient justification. The church should bear it joy- 
fully, remain and testify ; but, when it comes to the 
endangering of life, then they may disperse. God 
will have mercy, and not sacrifice. Simpson, be- 
fore the House of Commons,^ maintained that per- 
secution must never hinder confession, though it 
may profession of some things which are good. 



304 PERSECUTION. 

We must own God, even though the point be at 
the breastj and the dagger at the heart ; but we need 
not attend all positive ordinances at such perils. — 
See Flight. 

1 Page 262. ^ Han. ii. 212. 

PERSECUTION for Congregationalism, — Many 
of our intelligent people seem little aware of the 
amount of persecution which our fathers endured 
for their faith. Let such learn from NeaPs History 
of the Puritans, the deprivations, imprisonment, ex- 
ile, and various sufferings of the thousands of such 
men for their nonconformity; and, in Punchard's 
History of Congregationalism, chap, xiv., of the 
martyrdom of Barrowe, Greenwood, and Penry, for 
the same cause. Then there was the slow martyr- 
dom of the multitudes of men, women, and children, 
who perished for it in the English prisons, in Eliza- 
beth's, the James's, and the Charles's reigns, throw- 
ing into the shade all the sufferings by the fires of 
Smithfield, in that of the bloody Mary. These are 
the best antidote against longings for the fieshpots 
of Egyptio-English prelacy in Congregationalists. 
Even in New England, Rev. J. Moody was im- 
prisoned by Gov. Cranfield, of New Hampshire, in 
1684, because he administered the communion not 
according to the way of the Church of England. 
He then forbade his preaching, which was the occa- 
sion of his coming to Boston.^ Neal, in his Histo- 
ry of New England,^ says that, in 1573, ministers 
were examined, "whether the Book of Common 
Prayer were good and godly, every tittle of it 



PLATFORM. 305 

grounded on the Holy Scriptures ? and whether the 
thirty-nine articles were agreeable to the word of 
God or not? Whether we must of necessity follow 
the primitive church in such things as are used and 
established or not? and whether all ministers should 
be equal ? and for not giving satisfactory answ^ers, 
many were cast into prison." — See Separation ; 
Authority, human. 

1 Eliot, Biog. Diet. 327. ^ Yol. i. 55. 

PLATFORM, Cambridge ; its import — Hon. S. 
Haven ^ says : " When the Platform was framed, 
the community consisted partly of those who held 
the power of the church to be in church officers, 
and partly of those who held it to be in the bre- 
thren." President Stiles ^ says, three or four of the 
ministers who formed the platform were Presbyte- 
rian, i.e. for giving church presbyters all power; 
several for giving a negative vote to the elders; 
and the rest agreed with the almost universal sense 
of the brotherhood in the pure and unmixed idea of 
a Congregational churchy viz. all disciplinary power 
vested in the fraternity. And^ he says that the 
authors of the Platform agreed on a different course 
of procedure in the churches holding different 
principles. Neal, in his History of New England,* 
says : " All did not agree to the Platform, but all 
acquiesced in it." One thing concerning which 
they differed was the power of ministers to admi 
nister seals where they were not pastors. 

* Proceedings of the First Church and Parish of Dodham, 62. 
2 Conv. Serm. 57, 58. « lb. 66. ^ yol. i. 273—275. 
26* 



306 PLATFORMS. 

PLATFORM, Saijbrook, import of. — Dr. Stiles ' 
says : " Though the compilers of the Saybrook Plat- 
form hoped to have introduced a ti'iumvirate pres- 
bytery in each congregation, . . . yet the authority 
of such presbytery was confined to such churches 
as received it." It was received with a multitude 
of interspersions, securing the independency and 
uncontrollable power of churches, and was adopted 
at last by a compromise. He asserts,^ that the 
first principles laid down in the Saybrook Platform, 
and some of the evident interlining, often clash 
with each other, — the first giving uncontrolled 
power to the churches ; and the other, controlling 
power to consociations; and that it is to be sup- 
posed that the churches adopted it in a sense sub- 
ordinate to the first principle. 

^ Conv. Serm. 65, 6Q. ^ lb. 73, 74. 

PLATFORMS, of ivhat authority. — Welde, in 
his Answer to Rathband,^ says : " We hold it not 
unlawful to have a platform ; . . . yet we see no 
ground to impose such a platform on churches, but 
leave them their liberty therein." (See Creeds.) 
Rathband wonders " how the New England churches 
fell into so exact a discipline without a platform ! " 
Welde informs him, that it was '' because they had 
their discipline from the Scriptures," the best and 
the most consistent directory in the world. Hub- 
bard ^ treats of the opposition of some to the first 
synod, for forming Cambridge Platform, as the 
ground of " fear that it was intended to have eccle- 
siastical laws to bind the churches," and of xMr. 



PLATFORMS. 807 

Norton's success in overcoming the opposition, by- 
laying down the authority of a synod as " consulta- 
tive, declarative, and decisive, not coercive." Mit- 
chell ^ says of our platforms and confessions : " They 
were never set up as standards . . . they are lights, 
which all are free to use or not as they please." 
Samuel Mather, alone of all the old Congregational 
authors to my knowledge, maintains * that the Plat- 
form is " a holy pact or covenant," renewed and 
transmitted by the successive councils, synods, and 
right hands of fellowship, performed by virtue of it ; 
as though these things could not be done, according 
to the Scriptures, agreeably to the Platform, with- 
out receiving the whole Platform as a code of eccle- 
siastical laws. His reasoning is the more remarka- 
ble, considering his rigid Congregationalism and 
lucid demonstrations of many principles totally sub- 
versive of this. His great-grandfather, who drafted 
the Cambridge Platform, held sentiments exactly 
the reverse of these. (See article Creeds ; first 
item.) Samuel Mather, however, in a note, p. 136, 
of his Apology, shows that our fathers did not bind 
themselves to perpetual conformity to the Platform, 
nor any human systems and forms. The Synod of 
1679 approved of Cambridge Platform "/or the sub- 
stance of it^^^ which, Cotton Mather^ shows, means 
that they did not adopt the whole of it. He notes 
several particulars of their dissent, as a pastor's ad- 
ministering seals in another church, and the office 
of ruling elders. Dr. Stiles ^ says : " Our platforms 
were received by the body of the churches, only as 
plans of union and mutual fellowship." Mr. Nor- 



308 pooK. 

ris, of Salem, persevered in a platform of his own 
church ; ^ and Brattle-street Chm'ch was constituted 
on another platform.^ In his Ecclesiastical History 
of Massachusetts,^ Eliot informs us, that " the de- 
puties of several congregations would not yield 
such a power to the civil magistrates, as they as- 
sumed by calling a synod: . . . they were jealous 
that such a power might be erected to impose a 
uniformity of practice." Cotton and his church for 
a time opposed, and the matter was compromised 
by its being " in the form of a motion, and not of 
command." Minot, in his History of Massachu- 
setts,^° says : Their platform united their churches 
to a certain degree, yet "exempted them from any 
jurisdiction by way of authoritative censure, or any 
church power extrinsic to their own." — See Up- 
ham's Rat. Dis. 36. For an exhibition of the play 
upon the ambiguity of Saybrook Platform by the 
same parties in and out of power, see Bacon's Hist. 
Discourses, page 270, and elsewhere. 

^InHan.ii. 296. ^ Hist. Mass. 534— 536. ^ Guide, 56. * Apo- 
logy, 136—139. 5 Mag. ii. 204. « Conv. Serm. 49. ^ Eliot, Biog. 
Diet. 336. « lb. 84, 269. » In Hist. Soc. Col. series ii. vol. i. 195. 
^0 Vol. i. 30. 

POOR of the church should be cared for. — Ains- 
worth, in his Answer to Paget,^ maintains this to 
be a duty, even to selling of goods and parting them 
as every man hath need. K. Chidley, in her Justi- 
fication of the Independent Churches of Christ, tells 
T. Edwards ^ that the separatist English churches 
^' maintain all their own poor," besides being taxed 



POWER. 309 

for the support of others. The question is an open 
one in our day, and under our circumstances. 

iIiiHan. i. 283. ^ ib. ii. 112. 

POWER, a church may give that which they do 
not possess, — Hooker ^ shows that " those who have 
no office-power formaliter may give such power by 
voluntary subjection. . . . The power which a pastor 
hath is by election, and extends no farther than to 
his own people.*' Goodwin^ shows that office- 
power is founded on mutual relation. This princi- 
ple, carried out, will show how civil governments 
may have powers which individual electors have 
not. 

1 Survey, part ii. 72, 73. ^ Ch. Gov. 68. 

POWER, apostolical^ did not descend to succes- 
sors. — Owen asserts and abundantly proves this, 
in the preface to his Nature of a Gospel Church.^ 

1 Works, XX. 342. 

POWER, churchy installed in ministry or brethren ? 
Ainsworth, in the preface of his Reply to Johnson,^ 
says : " Two things have been heretofore contro- 
verted between Mr. Johnson and myself; one con- 
cerning the power of the Christian church, which 
he would have installed in the ministry thereof." 
Cambridge Platform ^ says the power of office is in 
the eldership, and the power of privilege in the 
brethren : " The latter is in the brethren formally, 
immediately from Christ; the former is not in them 
formally, but may be said to be in them, in that 



310 POWER. 

they design the persons to office." (See Platform, 
Cajnbridge ; Elders rule as moderators; Pastors, 
people may do their work^ Sfc; Officers abdicate 
ivhen^ SfC,) Wise,^ in his Vindication, shows that 
the people under the gospel are the first subject of 
church power, their government being a democracy. 
Even in electing an extraordinary officer, the apos- 
tles themselves referred the choice to the brethren. 
The process of discipline, from first to last, is by the 
brethren. Where there is any thing amiss, the fra- 
ternity is reprehended ; and, where there is any 
thing worthy of credit, they are commended in the 
Scriptures. In his Quarrel of the Churches Es- 
poused,^ speaking of the Proposals (the germ of 
consociationism), he says " they give power to asso- 
ciation to have the firgt cognizance of church cases: 
our government says. No, it belongs to particular 
churches." And ^ he quotes the passage above 
cited from the Platform, also chap. x. sect. 6, of the 
deposing of elders. By this means, he cuts up root 
and branch the Proposals, showing that they have 
the face of mere Presbyterianism, but contain the 
heart and core of Prelacy, if not of Papacy. Da- 
venport, in his Apologetical Reply,^ quotes from 
Parker: "The power ecclesiastical resides in the 
church." Robinson, in his Reply to Bernard,^ says 
of ecclesiastical power: "We put it in the body 
of the congregation; . . . the multitude called the 
church." Elders he acknowledges as ordinary gov- 
ernors, only we may not acknowledge them as lords 
over God's heritage. Hooker^ shows that " a church 
is before its officers ; . . . else, as often as the officers 



POWER. 311 

die, the church dies." Mather, in his Answer to 
Rutherford, asks^ if a church that has neighbors 
may not take upon itself entireness of jurisdiction, 
as well as one that has none ; it being granted that 
a church isolated has supreme power in itself. 
President Stiles ^° asserts that there never was an 
instance of admission to a church (in Connecticut), 
without the votes of the brethren, because of the 
spirit of liberty in the churches. See Punchard's 
View, 56. — See Ministers, how deposed. 

1 In Han. i. 320. ^ Page 28. ^ Pages 44, 51, 56. ^ Page 104. 
^Ib. 118, 119. 6 Page 240. '^ In Punchard's Hist. 327; and 
Works, ii. 7. « Surv. part i. 93. ^ In Han. ii. 182. ^^ Qq^^^ 
Serm. 66. 

POWER of churches cannot be given away^ nor 
taken from them, — Samuel Mather, in his Apology,^ 
says: " All jurisdiction . . . should be confined to 
particular churches, in whose hands our Saviour 
hath left it. Nor may any particular churches . . . 
deprive themselves of this power; for, in so doing, 
they would deprive themselves of a great trust. 
For, unless they have and keep this jurisdiction 
within themselves, they cannot faithfully discharge 
various other duties which are required of them by 
Jesus Christ, their. lawgiver." Speaking in opposi- 
tion to juridical power in councils, he says :^ " The 
powers and privileges of particular churches are 
sacred things, by no means to be slighted and un- 
dervalued, nor to be left to the mercy of any classes, 
councils, synods, or general meetings." Owen, in 
his nature of a Gospel Church, chap, v.,^ shows 



312 PRAYER. 

that church power is of such a nature that no es- 
sential part of it can ever be delegated. Hooker, 
in his Survey,^ says : " It is not lawful for churches 
to give away their power, nor for others to take it 
from them." The principle on which all these asser- 
tions are based is, that the exercise of this power 
is the duty of the members themselves, and so can- 
not be devolved on others. — See Punchard's View, 
108, 123, 142. 

1 Page 20. 2 Page 128. ^ Works, xx. 440. ^ Part i. 250. 

PRACTICE of the apostles the rule of church 
government, — Goodwin argues this,^ from the com- 
mission of Christ, "teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you," with the 
title, preface, and matter of the Book of the Acts. 
The practices recorded in the Acts are evidently 
noted as hints and examples. These same prac- 
tices were introduced into other churches : Paul 
mentions the offices of deacons and elders, as the 
command of Christ, in 1 Tim. iii. The apostles 
refer churches to their example. And, again, our 
Saviour, his apostles, and all the expounders of the 
moral law, thus argue from examples. 

1 Ch. Gov. 22—26. 

PRAYER prescribed unlaivful — The supplica- 
tion to King James I.^ argues largely, and in some 
points conclusively, against the lawfulness of such 
prayers, especially in the Liturgy of the English 
Church, which " perverts the right use of Scripture." 
Robinson, in his Apology,^ shows that the apostles 



PRAYER. 313 

did not use any set forms of prayer, and that the 
Lord's Prayer is not a model of any set form of 
words, but of the spirit of a prayer. (See Lord's 
Prayer.) Lord Say, in his Speech in Parliament,^ 
says : " This is that which I am not satisfied in, 
that a certain number of men should usurp to them- 
selves to form certain prayers and forms for divine 
service, and, . . . under the name of the church, en- 
join them upon all persons, upon all occasions to 
be used, and none other." Cotton, in his Reply to 
Ball,^ argues that a read prayer is no more his prayer 
than a read sermon is his preaching. He also says,* 
" A set form of prayer, prescribed to me for my 
prayer, maketh it to me a will-worship." Increase 
Mather, in his Lawfulness of Common Prayer 
Worship, &c. maintains ^ that its origin is popish 
and heathenish ; '^ that it violates the word of God, 
by omitting some words, and putting others in their 
stead ; and ^ that it advances the Apocrypha before 
the Holy Scriptures. 

* In Han. i. 115, 116. ^ lb. 375, 376 ; and Works, iii. 21—26. 
3 lb. ii. 134. 4 lb. 158. * lb. 162. ^ Page 2. ^ Page 13. » Page 14. 

PRAYER prescribed^ may it be lawfully joined 
in ? — Lord Say, in his Speech in Parliament,^ 
maintains that it may be with those who do not 
hold it indispensable. So hold all Congregatianal- 
ists, in distinction from rigid Separatists. The 
Common Prayer Unmasked maintains the negative, 
from the name, matter, and original of it ; the ridi- 
culous manner of using it, and the evil effects of it. 

1 In Han. ii. 134, 135. 
27 



314 PREACH. 

PRAYER prescribed unprofitable. Jacobus 

Church, in their Confession, art. xxi.,^ say : '* Every 
form of prayer prescribed by men is not absolutely 
nor simply a sin ; yet ... it is not so profitable, but 
rather hurtful, in many cases of it, as making holy 
zeal and other gifts of the Spirit in many to lan- 
guish." The Apologetical Narrative says : ^ " We 
practise, without condemning others, what all sides 
do allow, public prayers by ministers out of their 
own gifts." Cotton Mather ^ shows that " Christ 
never provided a prayer-book, but a Bible, for his 
people." 

1 In Han. i. 299. ^ ib. ii. 225. ^ Rat. Dis. 48—51. 

PREACH, who may ? — Lord King, in his In- 
quiry,^ shows that, in the ancient churches, laymen 
preached by leave of the bishops; and he quotes a 
letter from Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, and 
Theoclestus of Csesarea to Demetrius of Alexan- 
dria, defending this practice in the case of Origen, 
who, at the desire of the bishops, preached and ex- 
pounded the Scriptures, though (in his language) 
not yet in holy orders. Hooker's Survey ^ asserts 
that a man may preach as a gifted Christian with- 
out pastoral power. Dr. Stephen Moore, preacher 
to parliament,^ and the Savoy Confession,^ main- 
tain the same doctrine. Eaton and Taylor, in their 
Defence,* say : " Gifted men, not ministers, m.ay 
preach." Acts xi. 19; viii. 14. The Army Scru- 
ples^ assert that all men may read the Scriptures, 
and apply the sense for edifying. They that were 
scattered abroad, and went everywhere preaching 



PKEACH. 815 

the word, were not all ministers. The apostles 
*' never forbade any to preach, but her that preached 
by the spirit of the devil ; " and rejoiced when Christ 
was preached, even of envy. There is no difference 
between exhorting and preaching. If two persons 
may exhort each other, then a greater number may 
do so. The petitioners of the church and town of 
Woburn to the General Court '' deny that it always 
requires a council to determine whether a man may 
preach. In 1630, there was no minister in the First 
Church in Boston ; and Governor Winthrop, Mr. 
Dudley, and Mr. Nowel, the ruling elder, carried on 
the religious service.^ John Milton, in his Treatise 
on Christian Doctrine,^ says " the apostolical insti- 
tution did not ordain that a particular individual, 
and he a stipendiary, should have the sole right of 
speaking from a higher place, but that each believer 
in turn be authorized to speak." He adds : ^° " Wo- 
men are, however, enjoined to keep silence in the 
churches." The Apology of the English Churcli 
at Amsterdam ^^ says: "Discreet, faithful, and able 
men, (though) not yet in the ministry, may preach 
the gospel and the whole truth of God." A sermon 
was preached in Plymouth, Mass., and printed in 
England, 1622, and reprinted in Boston, 1724, and 
Plymouth, 1785, by Robert Cushman, who was no 
minister.^^ — See Approbation to preach; License ; 
Prophesying. 

» Part ii. 14, 15. ^ Part iv. 33. ' In Han. iii. 96. ^ lb. 546. 
^ Page 118. 6 Pages 3—13. ^ Hist. Soc. Col. series iii. vol. i. 40. 
« Eliot, Biog. Diet. 176. » Yol. ii. 203. ^^ lb. 204. " Page 37. 
»2 Eliot, Biog. Diet. 143. 



316 PRESBYTERY. 

PREACHING, God^s means of salvation. — Good- 
win has devoted the first chapter of his seventh 
book on Church Government, to show that preach- 
ing, in distinction from mere reading the word, is 
God's instituted appointment for the salvation of 
the hearers ; arguing it from various Scriptures. 

PREACHING, is it lawful to hear ^ from Christian 
errorists? — Robinson's Posthumous Treatise^ was 
written on purpose to establish the affirmative of 
this question. It should be noted that this was the 
dividing point between the Congregationalists and 
the rigid Separatists. Roger Williams first broke 
with the churches in the Bay, because they would 
not acknowledge their sin in having heard the 
Episcopal ministers in England. 

» In Han. i. 447—461 ; and Works, iii. 353—378. 

PRELACY does not prevent schism, — John Mil- 
ton ^ shows that it was not set up for this end, and 
accomplishes quite the contrary of preventing it. • 

^ Treatise against Prelacy, in Works, i. 100. 

PRESBYTERY, ivhat — In the Nonconformists' 
Directory ^ it is said : " There ought to be, in every 
particular church, a presbytery, which is a consis- 
tory, and, as it were, a senate of elders." The In- 
dependents in the Westminster Assembly ^ declare 
that the word occurs but three times in the New 
Testament, without any distinction of greater or less, 
as consistory, classis, synod, &c. ; and the Scrip- 
tures hold out no such distinction of presbytery. 



PRESBYTERY. 817 

(See Elders, ruling,) The word elder means sim- 
ply an old man. Dr. Stiles ^ says : " However fond 
they (our fathers) were of the power of presbyteries 
in the church, they were very opposite to the powers 
of classes, councils, and synods out of the church." 
Their idea (i.e. that of those who held to the rule 
of presbytery) was that of government by the bench 
of ruling elders in the church, and had no resem- 
blance but in name to the rule of presbyteries, by 
way of appeal from church-sessions. 

^ In Nears Puritans, ii. 440. ^ In Han. ii. 491, 492. « Conv. 
Serm. 60. 

PRESBYTERY, use o/. — Davenport, in his Apo- 
logetical Reply ,^ says : " The church commits those 
things to the presbytery which it cannot commo- 
diously do by itself." Wise, in his Vindication, 
everywhere contends that it is necessary to the 
liberty of the brethren ; not having yet discovered 
that his own favorite principle of pure church de- 
mocracy would do away the whole need of presby- 
tery, in the sense in which it was held by the advo- 
cates of a mixed church government. 

^ Page 241. 

PRESBYTERY, supposed power o/.— Cotton, in 
his Constitution of a Church,^ defines it to be " to 
call the church together, and deliver the counsel of 
God. to them with authority; to prepare matters for 
the church's hearing, and to propound and order 
them in the assembly; to administer ordination and 
the censures ; and to dismiss the assembly with a 
27* 



318 PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 

blessing in the name of the Lord." Cambridge 
Platform^ ascribes to it the same power, together 
with that of being moderators, and also examining 
candidates for admission and for office. — See El- 
ders. 

1 In Han. ii. 156. ^ Page 40. 

PRESBYTERY, church has power over. — Richard 
Mather maintains^ that there is a presbytery in 
every church by its elders, but that the church has 
the ultimate and controlling power over them. 
Cambridge Platform ^ gives great power to elders ; 
but, giving the church power to censure and depose 
one, it subjects them, necessarily, to an appeal to 
the whole body ; they only ruling for the sake of 
order, and not as lords. 

' Ch. Gov. and Ch. Gov. 49. * Chap. x. sec. 6—11. 

PRIESTS, ministers are not. — See Ministers, 
not successors of Jewish priests, 

PRINCIPLES o/ Congregationalism. — See Con- 
gregationalism, epitome of principles of. 

PRIVATE JUDGMENT, right of — Neal ' makes 
this one of the leading points of difference between 
the Puritans and Conformists, at the time of the 
separation, viz. " the natural right of every man to 
judge for himself, and make profession of that reli- 
gion he apprehends most agreeable to truth, so far 
as it does not affect the peace and safety of the 
government they live under." This ground has 



PROPHESYING. 319 

always been defended by Congregationalists, and 
assailed by their opponents. — See Hanbury, i. 41, 
53, 124, 171 ; ii. 47. 

* Hist. Puritans, i. 108. 

PROFESSION (9/ /atYA.— Cambridge Platform^ 
asserts that this should be made by members on 
their admission, and that nothing hinders that it 
should be made on their being received from other 
churches. — See Confession of Faith ; Creeds ; 
Members, removing. 

* Chap. xii. sect. 5, 6. 

PROPHESYING, ordinary^ Le. expounding' the 
word, — In 1618 John Robinson published his " Plea 
for Prophesying, or Speaking after Sermon, in Re- 
ply to Mr. John Yates his Monopoly." ^ Punchard 
adds : " This practice was continued many years by 
the Leyden and Plymouth Church, and probably 
laid the foundation for the religious conference- 
meetings now so common among Congregation- 
alists." In the Appendix to Mr. Perkins,^ he says, 
such as are out of office are to feed the flock in 
the exercise of prophesying, which is proved — By 
examples in the Jewish church, Luke ii. 42, 46, 
47; iv. 16, 18. Acts viii. 4; xi. 19—21 ; xiii. 14— 
16; xviii. 24 — 26. By the commands of Christ 
and his apostles, Luke ix. 1; x. 1. Rom. xii. 9. 
1 Pet. iv. 10, 11. 1 Cor. xiv. 1. By prohibiting 
women, not extraordinarily inspired, to teach in the 
church ; herein liberty being given to men their 
husbands, and others. By the excellent ends which 



820 PROPHESYING. 

by these means are obtained. Ainsworth, in his 
Communion of Saints,^ says : " All men have not 
only the liberty, but are also to desire, that they 
may prophesy, i.e. speak to the church to edifica- 
tion, which is to be coveted rather than other spiri- 
tual gifts." Robinson advocates the same in his 
Answer to Helwisse.^ Jacob's Church Confession, 
art. xviii.,^ says : " We believe that the sober, dis- 
creet, orderly, and well-governed exercise of ex- 
pounding and applying the Holy Scriptures in the 
congregation, by the apostle called prophesying^ 
and allowed by him to every other understanding 
member of the church but women, is lawful now, 
convenient, profitable, yea, sometimes very neces- 
sary also in divers respects." Johnson, in his Chris- 
tian Plea,^ shows, touching the divers use of men's 
gifts, that they may be used either in office or out 
of office, Rom. xii. 6 — 8. Hanbury has '^ a long 
list of controversial works on this point. Goodwin 
shows ^ that by ordinary prophesying is meant 
" speaking out of the word to men's instruction. 
In 1 Cor. xiv. 1 — 3, prophesying is taken in oppo- 
sition to gifts extraordinary, and is put for the ordi- 
nary expounding of the Scriptures; the word pro- 
phesy being not taken always to foretell, but also to 
declare, as Exod. vii. 1." Owen, in his Duty of 
Pastors and People, chap, vii.^ shows that private 
Christians have a right to make known whatever 
is revealed to them out of God's wprd, and, if 
called in Providence, to preach the gospel. Cotton 
Mather ^^ shows that in his time meetings for this 
purpose were kept up at private houses, after the 



PROPHESYING. 321 

manner of conference-meetings at the present day. 
Winthrop^^ cites prominent instances of the per- 
formance of this duty in the New England churches. 
So Letchford, in his Plain Dealing ;^^ and Upham, 
in the Appendix to his Dedication Sermon.^ ^ Gov. 
Bradford's Letter ^^ quotes Robinson's Apology, 
page 45 : " First, in all churches ... let the order 
of prophesying be observed, according to Paul's 
institution. Unto this are to be received, . . . yea, 
even of the multitude, who are willing to confer 
their gift, received of God, to the common utility 
of the church." Pierce, in his Vindication of Dis- 
senters,^^ says Archbishop Grindal wrote the queen 
a letter in defence of prophesyings, for which he 
was confined to his house, and sequestered six 
months. Cotton Mather asserts ^^ that the custom 
of asking questions after sermon, which had be- 
come the occasion of many contentions, underwent 
the condemnation of the Synod of 1637. — See 
Preach, wlio may ? 

* In Han. i. 354—358; and Works, iii. 287; and Punchard's 
Hist. 343. 2 Punchard's Hist. 353 ; and Works, iii. 432, 433. 
3 In Han. i. 281. ^ lb. 261 ; and Works, iii. 134. ^ lb. 298. ^ Jb. 
317. 7 lb. 356, note. « Ch. Gov. 279. ^ Works, xix. 43—47. 
i^Rat. Dis. 192. " Yol. i. 91, 92, 130. ^^ In Hist. Soc. Col. 
series iii. vol. iii. 75. ^^ Page 52. ^^ In Young's Pilgrims, 422. 
*5 Page 95. ^^ Magnalia, ii. 446. 

PROPHESYING regulated by teaching officers, — 
Robinson, in his Answer to Helwisse,^ says: " The 
officers, after their ordinary teaching, exhort to the 
use and exercise of the like liberty (moving and 
propounding questions, and exhorting the people), 



322 PEOPHESTING. 

and so, as there is occasion, open and explain 
things obscure and doubtful, reprove things tin- 
sound and impertinent, and so order, moderate, and 
determine the whole exercise. In this, I suppose, 
it appears unto all men that the officers govern." 
After v^hat is quoted from the Appendix to Mr. 
Perkins in the last article, he adds : " This exercise 
is to be performed after the public ministry by the 
teachers, and under their direction and moderation, 
whose duty is, if any thing be obscure, to open it ; 
if doubtful, to clear it: if unsound, to refute it; if 
imperfect, to supply what is wanting, as they are 
able." In his Apology,^ he shows that they who 
speak should do it to edification, and first be al- 
lowed by the judgments of ministers and others. 
Cotton, in his Constitution of a Church,^ says, after 
prophesying by the ministers, "if the time permit, 
the elders may call on any other of the brethren to 
speak a word of exhortation to the people.'^ Welde, 
in his Answer to Rathband,* argues that it is not 
preaching with authority, and must not be practised 
by those not invited by the elders. So Goodwin 
and Nye, in their preface to Cotton's Keys.* Hub- 
bard says ® inaccurately, as we see above firom Cot- 
ton's own hand, that prophesying was never prac- 
tised in any of the churches except Plymouth ; 
Cotton being jealous of it. Mitchell, in his Guide,^ 
seems to feel great horror about lay-preaching, yet 
confesses it difficult to find where the •• forbidden 
joint'* lies; but, on the whole, concludes that it 
consists in an ordinary layman or a theological stu- 
dent taking a text, and making a formal discourse. 



KEPENTANCE. 323 

But he does not inform us whether the sin consists 
in the text or the formal method, or the theologico- 
chemical compound. Laymen, he admits, may- 
pray, exhort, read, and comment on the Bible, warn 
the impenitent, reprove sin, and address a promis- 
cuous assembly ; but they must not preach. — See 
Approbation; License; Preach, t^^Ao ma?/ .^ 

iln Punchard's Hist. 338; Han. i. 261; and Works, iii. 135. 
2 In Han. i. 382 ; and Works, iii. 55. ^ In Han. ii. 156. * ib. 316, 
334. ^ Page 9. « Hist. Mass. 65. ^ Pages 273—277. 

PULPIT controlled by the minister, — Mitchell, 
in his Guide,^ reasons well on the right of a pastor, 
while he continues such, to the control of the pul- 
pit untrammelled by the people. 

1 Pages 158, 159. 

RECOMMENDATION, need of, — Cambridge 
Platform ^ states, that members unknown, and re- 
moving for a time, need letters of recommendation ; 
and those permanently removing should have letters 
of dismission. Cotton Mather asserts ^ that pastors 
usually gave letters of recommendation to persons 
travelling, but admitted to occasional communion 
any who had any living testimony of their having 
been communicants in any of the reformed churches. 
See Dismission ; Members. 

* Chap. xiii. sect. 8,9; and chap. xv. sect. 2. ^ Rat. Dis. 136, 137. 

REPENTANCE of offenders^ how manifested. — 
The True Description of the Visible Church * says 
the repentance of the party must be proportionate 



324 RESISTANCE. 

to the offence, namely, if the offence be public, pub- 
lic; if private, private; humbled, submissive, sor- 
rowful, unfeigned. Cotton Mather ^ affirms that it 
is sometimes sufficient to confess before the church. 
Dr. Hopkins^ maintains that it must always be 
public ; because the offender, by his transgression, 
put out his light before the world. — See Excom- 
munication, public, 

^ In Punchard's Hist. 371, 372. ^ Rat. Dis. 144. ^ Syst. ii. 360. 

REPENTANCE, churches judges of its genuine- 
ness, — Goodwin ^ shows that this is indispensable 
to avoid gross imposition of offenders. 
1 Ch. Gov. 200. 

REPENTANCE, if manifested^ may a church still 
exclude a flagrant offender? — Owen, in his Nature 
of a Gospel Church, chap, x.^ answers this question 
in the negative, unless they may reject whom Christ 
receives. The end of discipline is already attained. 

^ Works, XX. 560. 

RESISTANCE to oppression lawful — This was 
the doctrine of the separation, and of all the Inde- 
pendents; else Congregational churches had never 
outlived the storm of persecution. Bridge, in his 
Truth of the Times Vindicated (Answer to Fearne),^ 
shows the correctness of this doctrine in the pending 
struggle with Charles I. He shows that the first 
source of civil power under God is in the whole 
people ; that God appointed government, and left 
the children of men free to set up any way and 



BESISTANCE. 325 

form of government, still making the people the 
first receptacle of civil power ; that people oppressed 
have other " remedy than crying and tears " (denied 
by his opponent), though " war is the worst of evils, 
and not to be undertaken but to prevent gravissi- 
mum malum. We say, if the prince do not perform 
his trust, the people may look to their own safety." 
Secretary Cooke alludes, on the scaffold, to his 
Monarchy No Creature of God,^ and says the mo- 
narchists will be ashamed to oppose it. He assumes 
that monarchical government is no creature of God, 
and that the execution of the late king was one of 
the fattest sacrifices Queen Justice ever had. In 
Mr. Mayhew's Sermon to the West Church, Boston, 
on Lord's day after, Jan. 30, 1750,^ he confutes the 
doctrine of passive submission to all who would 
bear rule. He shows that the duty of subjection 
to the higher powers is founded solely on their 
being the ministers of God for good to the people ; 
and that, w^hen governments fail to do this, it is 
duty to resist. Pierce, in his Vindication of Dis- 
senters,^ affirms that it is a doctrine of the church 
of England, that the magistrate is not upon any 
account whatever to be resisted. Dr. Ames, in his 
Cases of Conscience, says : ^ " War in the Scrip- 
tures is reckoned among the heaviest of God's 
judgments," but " is not always unlawful ; ... if so 
... it had never been allowed of God in the Old 
Testament. . . . John Baptist exhorted soldiers not 
to cast away their arms, but to use them rightly." 
Bridge, in his Sermon to the Volunteers of Norwich 
and Great Yarmouth, says,^ if parliament may send 

28 



326 RESISTANCE. 

one sergeant-at-arms for one transgressor, they may 
send a thousand for a thousand such. Burroughs, 
in his Sermon to Parliament/ says : " When men 
in authority command anything of their own wills, 
which is no law, it is not authority which doth com- 
mand it. In this case, there is no resisting autho- 
rity at all." Taylor, in his Vindication of Dissen- 
ters,^ says : " We would not swallow their doctrine 
of passive obedience and non-resistance, as they 
stated it, in all cases whatsoever. . . . Why did not 
the bishops plead for it, when the Prince of Orange 
was coming over ? We should not then have had 
the name of a Protestant Church, nor the shadow 
of an English parliament. If I can honestly help it, 
I will never, never be a slave to Kirk or Keysar." 
Withers, in his History of Resista^ice in the Church 
of England, shows that they have always held such 
resistance lawful. And he asserts ^ that the late 
Lord Chief Justice Holt, at the abdication of James 
II., maintained that " he that hath a trust, acting 
contrary, is a disclaimer of the trust." He main- 
tains ^° that exousia means lawful power, to resist 
which is a damnable sin. " 'Tis sin to resist the 
mayor in the lawful execution of his office ; but, 
should he fall to cutting throats and firing houses, 
... he may be resisted." Paul's doctrine of non- 
resistance to the powers that be is limited, like 
Christ's, to resist not evil. Bradbury, in his Sermon 
entitled the Ass and the Serpent (from Gen. xlix. 
15, 18), says:^^ "The foundation of all passive 
obedience is laid in stupidity." And ^^ " God may 
deliver us up to the will of exdl men ; but to say 



RESISTANCE. 327 

that he would have us deliver ourselves up is to 
blaspheme his empire." He represents Issachar as 
stupidly crouching under burdens, when he had 
power to resist them. He shows ^^ what they got 
who threw themselves into the hands of the tyrant 
Sennacherib, and says : ^^ " There is nothing, in any 
one doctrine of Christianity, that will tie up the 
hands of an injured people. He that hath tasted 
that the Lord is gracious must have pity to the 
desolations of mankind: he cannot endure to see 
that nature marred by a tyrant that hath been 
honored by a Saviour. ... As the kingdom of 
Christ extends itself, it will proclaim liberty to the 
captives." In the preface to his Lawfulness of Re- 
sisting Tyrants, he says : " If a prince break the 
fundamental laws that secure the rights and liber- 
ties of his people, 'tis just for them to take their 
remedy." He adds,^^ the people have a right in 
themselves to dethrone a tyrant. And ^^ " David 
could say, 'there is no wrong in mine hand' while 
there was a sword in it." ^'^ They that out of 
weakness were made strong put to flight the armies 
of the aliens. " They bathe their sword in heaven, 
and it takes a celestial edge." In his Non-resistance 
Without Priestcraft,^^ he says the Scriptures state 
the case in this view : If God hath given us no 
capacity of resisting a tyrant, we must submit to 
it. If he hath, it is throwing away his favor not 
to use it. There is nothing ties the hands of an 
injured people but necessity. No law of God ever 
did make them slaves. Davenport, in his Royal 
Edict for Military Exercises, says : ^^ " Without 



S28 RESISTANCE. 

arms, and the exercise of them, the Commonwealth 
cannot be safe from dangers without. Neither 
God's power, nor his purpose, nor his promise, se- 
cures any man in the neglect of means. He did 
not feed with manna in Canaan." Mr. Emerson in 
his election sermon, entitled Piety and Arms, says : ^° 
" War between states is justified for the same rea- 
sons" as self-defence between individuals. Mr. 
Fish, in his Art of War Useful and Necessary, 
says ^^ the art of war is lawful when it serves the 
defence of human rights, and not when it serves 
the purposes of sordid ambition. He proves from 
several considerations the absolute necessity for a 
Christian people to learn the art of war, even from 
the command. Thou shalt not kill. If we do not 
use means to preserve life, we are accessory to its 
destruction. The art is none the less useful be- 
cause abused. Corbet, in his Principles and Prac- 
tices of Several Nonconformists,^^ says : " When 
men's commands counteract the commands of God, 
it is God and not man that must have the pre-emi- 
nence in our obedience." Cotton Mather, in his 
Sermon to an Artillery Company,^^ says : " God is 
the God of armies, but is never called the God of 
thieves or the God of murderers." In his Discourse 
to Part of the Soldiers engaged in the Just War 
against the Northern and Eastern Indians, he says : 
" Gentlemen, it is the war of the Lord you are en- 
gaged in." R. Williams, in his Bloody Tenet,^^ 
says : " It is necessary with civil and earthly wea- 
pons to defend the innocent and rescue the op- 
pressed." Samuel Adams exclaimed, on the 19th 



REVEREND. 329 

of April, 1775 : " This is a glorious day for Ame- 
rica." ^^ Mr. Davenport preached about the time 
of the arrival of the pursuers of the regicide judges, 
from Isa. xvi. 3, 4. " Bewray not him that wan- 
dereth; let mine outcasts dwell with thee," &c.^^ 
Hugh Peters led a brigade into Ireland, and came 
off victorious.^'^ Dr. Emmons ^^ says : How many 
have believed in passive obedience and non-resist- 
ance because it was practised (?) under the law I 
Robert Hall, in his Village Preaching,^^ shows that 
there will be resistance to penal laws when they do 
not harmonize with public sentiment, nor approve 
themselves to conscience. — See Government, cm7. 

1 In Han. ii. 190—197. ^ lb. iii. 564. 3 in Appendix to Neal's 
Puritans, ii. 527—540. * Page 304. ^ Page 184. ^ pag© 18. 
7 Page 32. ^ Prgf. i.— xii. ^ page 19. lo lb. 23. ^^ Page 3. 
12 lb. 8. 13 lb. 12, 13. 14 lb. 20. ^^ Page 2. ^^ p^ges 9, 11. 
17 Page. 22. '^ p^gg 4. i^ Page 8. 20 p^ge 14. 21 p^ge 6. 
22 Page 9. 23 Page is. 24 page 34. 25 Eliot's Biog. Diet. 10. 
26 lb. 150, et al. 27 lb. 374. 28 Yo\. v. 439. ^9 Works, ii. 191— 
199. • 

RESTORATION of penitent offenders. — Lord 
King,^ after detailing the horrors of an ancient ex- 
communication, shows how the penitents were re- 
stored, after a most abject humiliation, in amazing 
contrast with our Saviour's direction. And if he 
repent, forgive him; and Paul's, Ye ought to for- 
give him, lest such an one be swallowed up with 
much sorrow. 

1 Enquiry, part 1. 125. 

REVEREND. — Owen, in his Nature of Schism,^ 

28* 



330 SAVOY CONFESSION. 

Speaks disparagingly of the title, saying that he had 
valued it little, since he considered that saying of 
Luther : Nunquam periclitatur religio nisi inter Re- 
verendissimos. — See D.D. 

^ In Han. iii, 472. 

SABBATH a proper time for church discipline, — 
Ainsworth, in his Reply to Johnson,^ says : " The 
church judgments are the Lord's works, not ours ; 
therefore fittest to be done on the Lord's day. . , . 
All churches baptize on the Sabbath, and excom- 
municate on the Sabbath : why should not the case 
be heard, as well as judgment executed, on that 
day? 

» In Han. i. 251. 

SABBATH-SCHOOLS. — The Rev. T. Robbins, 
D.D., in his Address at Williams College, p. 40, 
says that the earliest, of which he has seen an au- 
thentic account, was at Plymouth in 166^. — See 
Intermissions, Sabbath. 

SAINT, title of avoided. — Hutchinson, in his 
History of Massachusetts,^ says the New England 
settlers never used the appellation of saint^ to avoid 
approbation of the Pope and his power of canoniza- 
tion. 

1 Vol. i. 378. 

SAVOY CONFESSION. — MitchelP says of the 
Westminster and Savoy Confessions : " They never 
had the authority of standards with us, as some 
have supposed. . . . They were consented to for sub- 



SCHISM. 331 

stance of doctrine by the New England churches. 
. . . They were never, to my knowledge, set up as 
standards, and made of the like authority with us, 
as confessions are with other communions. . . . They 
have the authority of truth with us, so far as they 
may agree with the Bible. ... They have no other 
authority than this. The same may be said of our 
Platforms : they are lights which all are free to use 
or not as they please." — See Authority, human^ 
discarded; Platforms, of what authority ; Scrip- 
tures a sufficient guide to order. 

' Guide, 55, 56. 

SCHISM, what. — Owen, in his True Nature of 
Schism,^ says that, "in its ecclesiastical sense, it 
denotes difference of mind and judgment, with 
troubles ensuing thereon, amongst men met in some 
one assembly, about compassing a common end or 
design." The arbitrary definitions of men, with 
their superstructures and inferences, we are not con- 
cerned in. He shows ^ that the definition of the 
word is rending'. We hear nothing of schism in 
Scripture, save in the case of the church in Corinth. 
It refers to causeless disputes among brethren, and 
not to refusing subjection to bishops, councils, 
classes,' &c. There is no mention of any with- 
drawing from the church, but not forbearing and 
forgiving one another. Withdrawing is not schism ; 
nor is refusing to hold communion, nor even de- 
parture from a church, provided it be done without 
a variance, judging and condemning others. He 
shows that the Independents are willing to walk 



332 SCHISM. 

with the church of England in all things where 
their light will afford mutual peace. In his Review 
of the Nature of Schism,^ he says it is impossible 
that a man can be a schismatic but by virtue of 
his being a member. And,^ " Schism consists in 
division in a church, and not in separation from it;" 
and this is what the apostle dehorts from in the 
Epistle to the Corinthians, the only place where 
•schism is mentioned in the Bible. Davenport, in 
his Apologetical Reply ,^ argues that schism some- 
times means unjust secession from a church, 1 John 
ii. 19 (?), and sometimes contention in a church, 
1 Cor. xi. 18. He shows ^ that secession is some- 
times occasioned by injurious dealing of others. 
Hall's Puritans and their Principles '^ shows that it 
is not schism to break away from churches, but to 
make divisions in them. Taylor, in his Vindication 
of Dissenters,^ shows that it is the church of Eng- 
land which causes schism, by cutting off all who 
affirm that there is any thing wrong in the Com- 
mon Prayer or the Thirty-nine Articles. The pre- 
face of Defence of Mr. Henry's Enquiry into the 
Nature of Schism says that it consists, not in sepa- 
ration from communion, but in violation of love 
and charity. Rev. C. Turner, in his Anniversary 
Plymouth Sermon,^ says : " If the church 6i Eng- 
land was schismatical in leaving Rome, we could 
heartily wish they had carried their schism to a 
greater length." In the Troubles in Frankfort,^^ 
Calvin's definition of schism was asserted to be 
a cutting off from the body of the church. . Mr. 
Whittingham answered, " that he would prove 



SCRIPTURES. 833 



that definition to be false, . . . and none of Calvin's ; 
for if every cutting off from the body should be 
schism, then you and all who have once sworn to 
the Pope, and now have refused him, are schisma- 
tics." 

2 In Han. iii. 439. ^ in Works, xix. 122—127, and 222, 225. 
3 In Han. iii. 444. * lb. 454, 455. ^ Page 26. ^ lb. 27. ^ Page 
279. » Page 118. ^ Page 20. ^^ Page 57. 



SCKIPTURES a sufficient guide to order. — Pun- 
chard ^ says this principle was early lost sight of, 
and has never been fully regained. He asserts, 
however,^ that, between the ninth and the thirteenth 
centuries, there were various bodies of dissenters 
who maintained that the Scriptures are an infalli- 
ble and sufficient guide to the church of Christ; 
and that he has given his church no authority to 
make laws for the government of his people, but 
only to execute such as he has given in his word. 
He shows the difference between the Court Refor- 
mers and the Puritans to be substantially this : 
The one held the absolute right of the prince to 
determine rules and ceremonies ; the other, that 
nothing should be required which was not deduci- 
ble from the Scriptures, and no church officers be 
allowed which are not recognized in the New Tes- 
tament. Goodwin ^ shows that there is much in 
the New Testament purposely written for the go- 
vernment of the churches, and the Scriptures are 
perfect in whatever they undertake to do, while, 
they afford us direct rules on the subject. Cart- 
wright, in his Controversy with Archbishop Whit- 



834 SCRIPTURES. 

gift,^ maintained, in opposition to Whitgift, that 
the Scriptures are not only a standard of doctrine, 
but of government. The same doctrine is distinctly 
stated in the Nonconformists' Du*ectory;^ in Ja- 
cob's Church Confession, art. ii. ; " Johnson's Trea- 
tise on the Reformed Churches;^ and the Apolo- 
getical XaiTative of the Independents in the West- 
minster Assembly.^ Burton, in his Answer to 
Prynne's Twelve Considerable Questions,^ says : 
" The Scriptm-es hold forth to us but only one form 
of church government and discipline, which ought 
not to be altered according to the diversity of hu- 
man laws, as you affirm." So, too, Burrough's 
Irenicum ; ^'^ Bartlett s Model.^^ The Congrega- 
tional Union of England and Wales say, in their 
Principles of Church Order : ^^ ''The NewTesta- 
m.ent contains, either in form of express statute, 
or in the example and practice of the apostolic 
churches, all the principles of order and discipline 
requisite to constituting and governing Christian 
societies.'' Cambridge Platform ^^ says : " The 
parts of church government are all of them exactly 
described in the word of God, ... so that it is not 
left in the powder of men, officers, churches, or any 
state in the w^orld, to add, diminish, or alter any 
thing, in the least measure, therein.'* Hooker, in 
his Survey,^* holds nearly the same language, and 
adds : It is not in the power of man to appoint an 
officer or an ordinance in his church. So Samuel 
, Mather, in' his Apology.^^ HaD, in his Puritans 
and their Principles,^^ quotes from the present good 
Bishop of Connecticut, commiserating those " who 



SEALS. 335 

have the Bible alone for their standard of faith ; " 
but a reviewer insists that it may yet be as well to 
hold on to the Bible till the good bishop provides us 
with something really better. Ames, in his Mar- 
row of Sacred Divinity/'^ says : " Ministers ought 
not to do any thing in the church which they have 
not prescribed to them in the Scriptures." See the 
Third Petition of the Exiles and others to King 
James, on his Answer to the First Petition, in Han, 
i. 113; Mauduit's Case of Dissenting ministers, 
quoted under art. Creeds ; Dr. Kippis's, also ib. ; 
Punchard's View, 30. — See Government, chmxh ; 
Churches, instituted bodies ; Legislation. 

1 Hist. 39. 2 lb. 109, 234, 235. ^ Ch. Gov. 13, 14, 16, 27. 
4 In Neal's Pui;Jtans, i. 123. ^ Ib. ii. 440. ^ In Han. i. 294. ^ ib. 
315. « Ib. ii. 224. ^ ib. 388. ^^ Ib. iii. 115. ^^ Ib. 242. ^^ ib, 
599. 13 Chap. i. sect. 3. ^^ part i. 5, 6. ^^ Pages 2, 3. ^^ Page 
59. 17 Page 155. 

SEALS, lohat — Congregationalists agree that 
the seals of the covenant are only Baptism and the 
Lord's Supper. 

SEALS, may a church authorize others than teach- 
ing elders to administer?- — This has ever been a 
disputed point. The Savoy Confession, chapter on 
Institution of Churches, art. xvi., says : ^ " But where 
there are no teaching officers, none may administer 
the seals, nor may the church authorize any to do 
so." With this agrees Hooker.^ Watts, in his 
Foundation of a Christian Church,^ says : " The 
church may appoint private members to administer 



336 SEPARATION. 

seals rather than to neglect them. So taught Sa- 
muel Mather. — See Baptism, who may administer 
it ? Lord's Supper, may any but ordained ministers 
administer ? Ministers, may they administer seals 
where they are not pastors ? 

^ In Han. iii. 547. ^ Survey, part iii. 9. ^ Works, iii. 222. 

SEALS, all members have a right to. — Hooker ^ 
shows that even the members of the church of Sar- 
dis had this outward right. 

^ Survey, part iii. 10, 11. 

SEPARATION, what—Th^ Answer of the In- 
dependents in the Grand Committee of the West- 
minster Assembly^ says: "If the purest churches 
in the world should impose, as a condition of re- 
ceiving the Lord's Supper, any one thing which 
tender consciences cannot join in ; if they remove 
from these churches, and have liberty from a state 
to gather other churches, this is no separation." 
John Howe^ archly compares the ideas of some on 
this subject to the case of " a humorsome company, 
who should distinguish themselves by wearing a 
blue or yellow girdle, and call themselves mankind." 
So he thinks of those who style themselves "TAe 
church^'' and the rest " Separatists." 

^ In Han. iii. 49. ^ Letter concerning Stillingfleet's Sermon, 
Works, 179. 

SEPARATION may not be schism. — Barrowe 
and Greenwood, in their Answer to Giffard,^ retort, 
that what would affix the blot of schism on them 



SEPARATION 337 

for separating from the church of England, would 
affix the same on the church of England for sepa- 
rating from the church of Rome. Johnson uses the 
same argument in his Treatise of Some Things 
which concern the Reformed Churches.^ The 
Saints' Apology^ says : " Luther made a separation 
from the external communion of all the churches in 
the world ; . . . yet none but Papists, or such as long 
for a captain to lead them back again into Egypt, 
will accuse him of having made a schism ; ... for 
he separated, not from believers, but from unbe- 
lievers." Burton tells Prynne,* that John the 
Baptist (?), and even Christ himself, gathered 
churches out of the Jewish church. Owen, in his 
Nature of Schism,^ says : " When a man's leaving 
the ordinary communion of any particular church 
for his own edification to join with another . . . 
is proved to be schism, I shall acknowledge it." 
Neal, in his History of the Puritans,^ says : " There 
may be separation from a true church without 
schism, and schism within a church without separa- 
tion." Cambridge Platform '^ quotes Dr. Ames's 
judgment, and says : " In this case, for aught we 
know, it passeth without exception. ... If any, 
wronged with unjust vexation, or providing for his 
own edification, or in testimony against sin, depart 
from a church where some evils are tolerated, and 
join himself to another more pure, yet, without 
condemning of the church he leaveth, he is not 
therefore to be held as a schismatic, or as guilty of 
any other sin." — See Affinity ; Members ; Schism. 

29 



338 SEPARATION. 

» In Han. i. 53. ^ ib. 312. ^ ib. ii. 232, 233. ^ ib. 393. 5 ib, 
iii. 444. ^ 1 Preface, xi. "^ Preface, xi. 

SEPARATION, reasons of.— The Low Country 
Exiles ^ make the following objections to the church 
of England : '* The whole land being received into 
the church ; retaining the Popish clergy and prelacy, 
and the rest of the rabble, which they received from 
the Romish apostacy, about forty Popish offices 
being, at this day, in the church of England, not 
appointed by Christ in his Testament ; the inferior 
clergy being unlearned, and cannot preach at all, and 
live in servitude of the bishops ; the administration 
which is imposed on all ; . . . they have gathered 
their service-book verbatim out of the mass-book." 
Robinson, in his Answer to Hall,^ shows that the 
church are required to be separate from the world, 
and the English church have not made such a sepa- 
ration : " We have chosen, by the grace of God, 
rather to separate ourselves to the Lord from it, than 
with it from him." He enumerates ^ the Romish 
practices in the English church, and ^ says : " Where 
truth is a gainer, God, who is truth, cannot be a 
loser." So he quails not before the assertion of his 
opponent, that "whoremongers and murderers shall 
abide ah easier answer than separation." ^ In his 
Apology ^ he represents the hierarchal government 
as overtopping by head and shoulders the Pope, the 
head only being cut off, upon whose shoulders some 
would place the civil magistrate ; and that the field 
was, under the most severe penalties, purposely sown 
with tares. 



SEPARATION. 339 

1 In Han. i. 93. ^ j^. 187, 188 ; and Works, iii. 406. =^ In Han. 
i. 191—199; and Works, iii. 409—418. ^ i^ Han. i. 202; and 
Works, iii. 419. ^ Asserted in Han. i. 186 ; and Works, iii. 404. 
6 In Han. i. 385. 

SEPARATION, cause of^ in persecution to enforce 
conformity, — The seeming little importance of the 
ceremonies has often induced the plea, that the 
Separatists ought to have conformed, and saved 
themselves from so much trouble, and the church 
of England from division. This they would have 
gladly done, had their consciences allowed, and had 
they not been required to swear belief in what they 
firmly disbelieved. Hooper objected to being made 
a bishop in the usual habiliments, because the com- 
mon people would worship the garments, as they 
had been taught to do by the Papal priesthood. 
For this he was sent a prisoner to the Fleet.* The 
persecutions of Elizabeth threw those of Mary into 
the shade. They commenced with enforcing the 
acts of the queen's supremacy, of uniformity in 
common prayer, and the establishment of the Court 
of High Commission.^ Then^ we may see the 
successive steps of her demands, part of which 
were, the sacrament to be received kneeling ; un- 
leavened bread alone allowed ; the wearing of copes, 
surplices, and square caps, by the ministers, which 
were all considered by the reformers as tending to 
idolatry, because the people had been required to 
adore them, and the posture of kneeling at the 
sacrament had been enforced as an act of adoration 
to the " breaden God." Elizabeth declared that she 
cared not for their consciences ; but outward con- 



840 SEPARATION. 

formity she would have, or she would " hew them 
into shape." Passing over the many thrilling scenes 
that intervened, there passed, in 1592-3, the act 
which required every person above the age of six- 
teen to go frequently to the Episcopal Church, or 
abjure the realm ; and if he returned, to suffer death 
without benefit of clergy. At this time, the prisons 
were full of persons confined and dying there for 
nonconformity. But, on the passing of this act, the 
doors were thrown open, and those who had chosen 
rather to die in prison than do violence to their 
consciences were permitted to go into banishment. 
Here was the origin of the Lovn^ Country Exiles, 
many of w^hom eventually became the planters of 
America, — an .origin which promised something, 
and under God has accomplished wonders.^ In 
1604 the royal proclamation of King James I. 
declared all to be excommunicated, ipso facto^ who 
should affirm that the Book of Comrnon Prayer 
contained any thing repugnant to the Scriptures ; 
that any part of the thirty-nine articles were super- 
stitious or erroneous, or such as he might not " with 
a good conscience subscribe unto," with divers other 
points, equally and vitally important, and closing 
with, " or shall affirm that there are, within this 
realm, other meetings ... of the king's born sub- 
jects than such as are established by law, that may 
rightly challenge to themselves the name of true 
and lawful churches." ^ In such circumstances, 
what could conscientious dissenters do ? Ministers 
were required to swear to the royal supremacy over 
all matters civil and ecclesiastical : and there was 



SEPARATION. 341 

no other alternative for them than perjury on the 
one hand, and separation, with imprisonment, exile, 
or death, on the other. It was under these circum- 
stances that the Robinson Church went to Holland, 
amid every legal and illegal persecution, even pa- 
rents and young children being separated by an 
armed band ; and thus, through much tribulation, 
entered the kingdom of heaven.^ Neal, in his Puri- 
tans,'^ informs us, that, in the early part of Elizabeth's 
reign, the rubric which declared that, in kneeling, 
no adoration was intended to any corporal presence 
of Christ in the bread, was expunged. Mr. Choules 
tells us, on the authority of Dr. Price,^ that it was 
easy to tell the number of martyrs that Popery led 
to the stake, but no other than the Omniscient Being 
is competent to reveal the secrets of Whitgift's dark 
and loathsome prison-house ; and the martyrdom of 
these prisoners was not one jot less wicked or cruel 
than that which Gardiner and Bonner practised. 
See a description of some of their sufferings in ib. 
235 — 243. — See Kneeling; Habits; Ceremonies; 
Persecutions for Congregationalism, 

^ Pun chard's Hist. 207 ; and NeaVs Puritans, i. 52—58. * Pun- 
chard's Hist. 228. »Ib. 229— 243. ^ib. 293— 295. ^Ib. 310— 312. 
6 lb. 314—322, 7 Vol. i. 76. « Note to ib. 236. 

SEPARATION, when required; how long to be 
forborne. — Welde, in his Reply to Rathband/ 
quotes the Answer to the Thirty-two Questions : 
" When a man must himself conform to corruptions, 
then his standing is unlawful." Ainsworth, in his 
Communion of Saints,^ says : " The saints should 

29* 



342 SEPARATION. 

bear one another's infirmities and diversity of judg- 
ment, especially for the present, till the truth can be 
tried out either among themselves, or by the help 
of other churches, which was the practice in the 
apostles' days." Jacob's Church Confession, art. 
xv.,^ says : " We believe, concerning mixtures of the 
open profane with some manifest godly Christians 
in a visible church, that what soul soever, in such a 
state, desireth to be in safety, ought, with all dili- 
gence, to leave that spiritual society." Owen, in his 
Nature of a Gospel Church, chap, i.,^ argues that 
we should withdraw from a church where there is 
that which endangers the edification or salvation 
of the soul. Punchard, in his History,^ shows from 
Robinson's Researches, that Tertullian and Privatus 
separated from the churches with which they were 
once connected, on account of the innovations in 
them. Watts, in his Foundation of a Christian 
Church,^ shows the right to separate from even true 
churches. He says : " The churches must not be 
turned into prisons." Cambridge Platform ^ makes 
the just occasions for removal from churches to 
be, — if a man cannot remain without sin ; per- 
sonal or general persecution ; or want of subsistence. 
Robert Hall, in his Terms of Communion,^ says if 
communion with a Christian society cannot be had 
without compliance with rights and usages which 
we deem idolatrous and superstitious, or without a 
surrender of that liberty in which we are com- 
manded to stand fast, we must, as we value our 
allegiance, forego, however reluctantly, the advan- 
tages of such a union. Lobb, in his True Dissenter,^ 



SEPARATION. 343 

says : " Those that are persuaded of the sinfulness 
of the terms ought not to communicate with the 
imposing church." — See next article. 

^ In Han. ii. 326, 827. ^ lb. i. 284. ^ lb. 298. ^ Works, xx. 
366. 5 Page 48. ^ Works, iii. 227. '"^ Chap. xiii. sect. 4. » Works, 
5. 290. 9 Page 130. 

SEPARATION, when condemned, — The Saints' 
Apology ^ condemns all separation from the invisible 
church, "which cannot be done but by denying the 
faith," but commends separating from corruptions. 
Cambridge Platform ^ says : " To separate out of 
contempt of holy fellowship, for covetousness, or 
want of love, ... or what . . . should be tolerated, 
... is unlawful and sinful." Burton, in his Rejoin- 
der to Prynne's Reply ,^ says : " We separate from 
none we know to be true churches. If they would 
give us leave, in their communion, to protest against 
those corruptions which we think defile them, we 
should not scruple." Hall, in his Puritans and their 
Principles,^ shows that Robinson was against sepa- 
rating from any churches of Christ, only from the 
national constitution and government of the English 
church. Robinson also maintained this in his 
Answer to Helwisse.^ Robert Hall, in his Terms of 
Communion,^ says : Divisions among Christians, 
especially when it proceeds to a breach of Christian 
union, is so fraught with scandal, and is so utterly 
repugnant to the genius of the gospel, that the whole 
Christian world have agreed in regarding it as an 
evil, on no occasion to be incurred but for the avoid- 
ance of a greater, — the violation of conscience 



344 SEPARATION. 

Whenever by receiving we must sanction what the 
word of God condemns, we must come out. This 
justifies the separation from Rome, and from the 
church of England. The Low Country Exiles, in 
their Letter to Junius,^ say : •• We are persuaded 
that separation should not be made from any church, 
either rashly or at all, so long as we may remain 
mth sound faith and consciences." In the Answer 
of the New England Elders to the Nine Positions,^ it 
is said of those " who withdraw themselves from an 
able and faithful ministry as no ministry of Christ, 
and from godly congregations as no churches of 
Christ, because of some corruptions, from which, 
through want of light, not love of truth, they are 
not thoroughly cleansed, — against such vje have 
ever ivitnessedr 

1 In Han. ii. 232. ^ Chap. xiii. sect. o. ^ Page 47. ^ Page 221. 
^ In Punchard's Hist. 335 ; and Works, iii. 105. ® Works, i. 334. 
' In Han. i. 139. » lb. ii. 26. 

SEPARATION not made by Congregationalists, 
Congregationalism, as Contained in the Scriptures 
and Explained by the Platform,^ shows that " the 
churches of New England did not separate from 
the church of England, but were driven out by per- 
secution." Owen, in his Nature of Schism,^ says : 
" Unless a unity can be fixed, our departure cannot 
be proved." He maintained that he did not belong 
to the Bishop of Oxford, because he had never con- 
sented to, and so he did not separate from him ; 
that if the bishop had a flock there, which he would 
attend, he should be glad of his neighborhood. He 



SEPARATION. 845 

denies the charge ^ that he " unministers their mini- 
sters, and unchurches their churches," but does not 
thence justify and own their way, wherein they dif- 
fer from the Congregational ministers of England. 
He disclaims the advocacy of any Independentism 
thus unchurching any true churches, while he advo- 
cates the peaceable proceeding of any people of 
God to join in the ordinances of Jesus Christ, re- 
forming abuses, &c. Prince, in his Chronology,^ 
quotes from Baillie, showing that Robinson was at 
first a separatist, but was brought to greater mode- 
ration by Dr. Ames and Mr. Parker, and became a 
principal overthrower of the Brownists and the au- 
thor of Independency. (See Brownists ; Indepen- 
dents.) The Brownists in Leyden would hardly 
hold communion with Robinson ; but Robinson 
held occasional communion with the Reformed 
churches.^ Elder Brewster required no declaration 
of separation from the church of England.^ Young 
in his Chronicles of the Pilgrims,"^ says : " Robin- 
son was always against separation from any of the 
churches of Christ." Gov. Bradford, in his Answer 
to Lyford's Charge, denied that they were Brown- 
ists, or, like those sectarians, renounced the church 
of England.^ Joshua Scottow, in his Narrative of 
the Planting and Training of the Massachusetts 
Colony, says : ^ They did not close with the hierar- 
chy, . . . and were not with the rigid separation. 
See quotation from NeaPs History of New England, 
in article Congregationalism, what. 

1 Page 8. 2 In Han. iii. 442, 443. ^ ib. 464. * Page 87. * lb. 
87. ^ Ib. 89. 7 Page 388. » Eliot Biog. Diet. 81. » Page 19, 



846 SEPARATISTS. 

SEPARATISTS. — It wiU be perceived by perus- 
ing a few of the preceding and the next succeeding 
articles, that this word was used in different senses, 
and is a somewhat comparative term. The Epis- 
copalians usually called all the dissenters Separa- 
tists; whereas our fathers usually applied the term 
to those who denounced the English Episcopal 
congregations as no churches, and refused all spiri- 
tual communion with them. Francis Johnson, one 
of the most rigid Separatists, published, in 1608, 
Certain Reasons and Arguments, -'proving that it 
is not lawful to hear or have any spiritual commu- 
nion with the present ministry of the church of 
England." * The Letter accompanying the Answer 
to the Nine Positions shows that the New England 
churches were not rigid Separatists. They sepa- 
rated not from the churches of England as such, 
but from the coiTuptions which they conceived to 
be left in these churches ; yet they left the few rigid 
ones among them " to the liberty of theii* own judg- 
ments without molestation." 

^ Han. i. 167. In a note may be seen how he was opposed by 
William Bradshaw. 

SEPARATISTS, semi. — This was the title which 
our Congregational fathers at length received, when 
the distinction between them and the Brownists 
came to be better understood. H. Jacob, in his 
Plainer Opening of a Divine Beginning, &c.,^ says; 
" I acknowledge that in England are true visible 
churches, . . . such as I refuse not to communicate 
with." Robinson, in his Treatise on Communion,^ 



SERMONS. 347 

maintains that we must separate from the wrong 
things connected with the hierarchy, but not from 
the private communion with Christians in the 
church of England ; and,^ as Hanbury asserts, 
" goes on to show that the Lord's people may not 
communicate with them, in regard to government 
ecclesiastical, and the ministry thence derived." 
He asserts substantially the same things in his 
Posthumous Treatise,^ showing that he cannot, 
however, communicate with their church order and 
ordinances, without being condemned of his own 
heart, — See Separation ; Catholicism ; Commu- 
nion. 

1 In Han. i. 230. ^ lb. 259 ; and Works, iii. 105. ^ ib. 264. 
4 lb. 451, 458 ; and Works, iii. 353—378. 

SERMONS, length of; studied; written, — Cot- 
ton Mather^ shows that the primitive preachers 
usually confined themselves to about an hour. He, 
moreover, says: "If they hear preachers boasting 
that they have been in their studies but a few hours, 
on a Saturday or so, they reckon that such persons 
rather glory in their shame. Sudden sermons they 
may sometimes admire from their accomplished 
ministers, when the suddenness has not been a 
chosen circumstance. . . . The best ministers in New 
England ordinarily would blush to address their 
flocks without preparation." (See Ministers should 
give themselves wholly to their work,) Speaking of 
preaching with notes, he says : " No doubt, some 
sermons are the better composed for it; but it will 
require good management if they be not the less 



348 SINGING. 

affecting. ... It was very little practised or approved 
of in this country till of latter years," 
1 Rat. Dis. 57—61. 

SIGN OP THE CROSS.— R. Parker, in his Trea- 
tise against Symbolizing with Antichrist, especially 
in the Sign of the Cross, says ^ the cross, surplice, 
&c., they say, " being consecrate to his service, they 
become things of God, yea, parts of God, whose 
worship is the worship of God." He answers the 
Episcopal argument, that they had changed the 
sign of the cross, saying : ^ ''Of the things that may 
be changed from their abuse, the sign of the cross 
is none." — See Ceremonies ; Habits. 
^ Page 8. 2 lb. 25. 

SINGING-. — Cotton tells Ball ' that the Psalms 
cannot be sung without the help of music, natural 
music at least ; and so this is ordained of God, ac- 
cording to the light of nature, and does not fall 
under the general negative precept of forbidding 
human inventions in the worship of God ; but that 
this does not apply to a devised form of prayer. 
I. Chauncy^ says: " Some do scruple singing in a 
mixed congregation ; but it ought not to be scru- 
pled, any more than the church's prayers, . . . and 
they that ought not to be excluded from hearing 
the word, ought not to be excluded from praising 
God for the word of his grace." In a Brief Dis- 
course concerning Regular Singing, published in 
Boston in 1725, it is argued forcibly that there is 
a necessity of skill in vocal music. There was a 



I 



SUBSCRIPTION. 349 

great contention between minister and people on 
the subject of singing, in the church in Bradford, in 
1722.^ 

» In Han. ii. 161. ^ Divine Inst. Cong. Churches, 87. ^ Eliot, 
Biog. Diet. 449, 450. 

STANDING COMMITTEES.— Mitcheir notes 
the fact that many of our churches have standing 
committees, and cautions that they be not invested 
with presbyterial powers, saying that he knows of 
instances where they are invested with such- powers. 
" To commit the watch and discipline of the church 
to a permanent committee, ... is not Congrega- 
tional." — See Scriptures a sufficient guide to or- 
der; Officers, God^s gift^ and not to be multiplied. 

1 Guide, 142, 143. 

SUBSCRIPTION was first enjoined in 1571, and 
universally enforced in three articles in 1584. The 
articles were — the queen's sovereign authority ; 
that the Book of Common Prayer, and ordination 
of bishops, priests, and deacons, contains nothing in 
it contrary to the word of God ; and the articles of 
religion, agreed upon by the bishops and archbishops 
in 1562, are all agreeable to God.^ The Offer of a 
Conference by the Deprived Ministers in the reign 
of James I.^ states, that, in about one year, three 
hundred ministers have been turned out of Christ's 
service, only for refusing such ceremonies as have 
their life, breath, and being from Popery ; and such 
a subscription as the like hath never been urged 
under a Christian magistrate. The Canons of Con- 

30 



350 SUCCESSION. 

vocation ^ denounced excommunication, ipso facto^ 
upon all who refuse to subscribe, that the church of 
England is a true, apostolical church ; that the Com- 
mon Prayer contains nothing contrary to the word 
of God ; that none of the thirty-nine articles are 
superstitious ; or that there are other churches than 
the Episcopal, and the like. 

1 Nichols's Plea, in Han. i. 3, 4. - lb. 126. ^ lb. 121, 122. 

SUCCESSION in churches, — This is shown by 
Mather and Tompson, in their Answer to Herle,^ to 
be essential^ that is, confined to the question of obey- 
ing God ; not ministerial^ i. e. by direct line from the 
apostles. " Such a principle would unchurch all 
Christian communities." 

» In Han. ii. 170. 

SUCCESSION, ministerial^ interrupted or uninter- 
rupted ? — Barrowe, in his Refutation of Giffard,^ 
shows in substance, that if those who hold it unin- 
terrupted hold the church of Rome a true church, 
then are they, on their oion principles, schismatics ; 
if otherwise, then their ordination is through a false 
church. Neal ^ shows that the bishops in the English 
church, all save one, declined, when the act of uni- 
formity was passed, and were deprived ; and 
Archbishop Parker was consecrated by some who 
had been deprived in the late reign ; so that the 
Papists made him and his coadjutors doubt the 
validity of their own ordination, till Parliament 
confirmed it about seven years after. English bish- 
ops, therefore, have their succession through deposed 



SUSPENSIOIT. 351 

bishops, and ex post facto Parliament laws ; and not 
in an unbroken chain from Peter, with authority to 
bind and loose. All this, to say nothing of the 
question, through which of the contemporaneous 
rival Popes they received the transmission of apos- 
tolical succession. — See Bishops ; Ordination by 
ministers ; by direct succession, 

1 In Han. i. 58. '^ Hist. Puritans, i. 78. 

SUSPENSION, pastoral condemned, — Barrowe, 
in his Description of a False Church,^ says : " They 
add new devices of their own, as pastoral suspension 
from the sacraments." Baillie^ says: ''The Inde- 
pendents denied the lawfulness of all such censures." 

1 In Han. i. 46. ^ lb. ii. 256. 

SUSPENSION, church ; is it lawful ? — Mitchell ' 
thinks that it is, though he says that some doubt it. 
The compiler is of that number. Johnson, who 
was presbyterially inclined, is the only writer among 
the early Congregationalists, who, to my knowledge, 
advocated it. (See his views in Hanbury, i. 318.) 
The authors of the Congregational Manual^ make 
it a kind of probation, and what the church may do 
pending the trial of one accused. Isaac Chauncy ^ 
says : " Suspension is unwarranted by Christ, and 
the member has a right to church privileges, till fully 
convict before the church. Hence, brethren sin 
greatly in withdrawing from communion on account 
of the supposed sin of a member." — See Letch- 
ford, Punchard, and Upham, in article Admonition. 

i Guide, 104. ^ Page 36. ^ Div. Inst. Cong. Churches, 129. 



352 SYNODS. 

SUSPICION not a ground for discipline, — Brad- 
shaw, in his English Puritanism,^ says : " By virtue 
of these keys, they are not to examine and make 
inquisition into the hearts of men, nor to molest 
them upon uncertain fame, but to proceed only upon 
open and notorious crimes." — See Accusation ; 
Discipline. 

^ In Neal's Puritans, i. 249. 

SYNODS not juridical, — Goodwin has the 
fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of his fifth 
book on Church Government against the subordi- 
nation of synods to exercise jurisdiction. He argues 
against it, " because there is no warrant for it in the 
Scriptures. ... It would introduce a foreign ecclesi- 
astical power in every state and kingdom. . . . There 
is no standing rule by which it should be managed. 
... It requires representations arising from represen- 
tations, for which there is no Scripture warrant. . . . 
And Acts XV. and the analogy of Matt, xviii. do not 
prove such a subordination and juridical power." 
The Savoy Confession ^ disallows the power of all 
stated synods, presbyteries, &c., over particular 
churches, but admits that such assemblies may meet 
to give advice, without exercising any jurisdiction. 
Jacob's Church, in their Confession, art. v.^ say : 
'' On occasion there ought to be a consociation . . . 
of churches, but not a subordination, or surely not 
a subjection, . . . under any higher spiritual authority, 
only Christ and the Holy Scriptures." Paget ^ 
complains of Davenport, saying : " This is no more 
than Mr. Jacob did give to classes and synods for 



SYNODS. 853 

counsel and advice." Davenport, in his Power of 
Congregational Churches, says : ^ " God hath en- 
joined entireness of jurisdiction ... to a particular 
church. Who, then, shall sunder it from such a 
church, and place it in classes and supreme judica- 
tories where God never put it ? " Richard Mather, 
in his Answer to Rutherford,^ shows that the parallel 
does not hold, so that classes have jurisdiction over 
churches, as the Jewish Sanhedrim had over the 
synagogues. And ^ he shows that other churches 
may not take power even from an erring church ; 
for who gave them this authority? Welde, in his 
Answer to Rathband,'^ shows that delegating repre- 
sentatives to do church work does not imply a 
jurisdiction in them over the churches. The 
Desires of the Independents^ craves "that congre- 
gations may not be brought under the government 
of classical, provincial, or national assemblies, in 
respect of ecclesiastical jurisdiction." Bartlett's 
Model ^ inquires, " Where do these men read, in all 
the New Testament, of these greater assemblies, 
with authoritative power ? " Secretary Cook, in his 
What the Independents Would Have, says : ^^ "I 
shall tell you in one word what will content every 
Independent in England, viz. — an entire exemption 
from the jurisdiction of prelates and ecclesiastical 
officers other than themselves shall choose." Milton, 
in his Answer to Salmasius,^^ says : " They which 
we call Independents are only such as hold that no 
classes or synods have a superiority over any parti- 
cular church." Cotton, in his Keys,^^ shows that, if 
it be granted that a synod may better understand 



354 SYNODS. 

the rule of proceeding, they are further removed 
from the knowledge of the facts and of the spirit of 
the offender than a particular church ; and ^^ that 
the church is not now to be under tutors and 
governors, as in her Jewish nonage. Cambridge 
Platform ^^ says : " It belongs to synods and councils 
to determine controversies of faith and cases of 
conscience ; to clear from the word holy directions, 
for the worship of God and good government of 
the church ; to bear witness against maladministra- 
tion in any particular church, and to give directions 
for the reformation thereof; not to exercise church 
censures^ in way of discipline^ nor any act of church 
authority and jurisdiction^ which that {the Antioch and 
Jerusalem) presidential synod did forhearP In the 
Appendix to Hooker's Survey,^^ those who sent the 
book to be printed after his death say : " This is 
known to be the author's mind, which the whole 
discourse doth manifest, that he denies a synod hath 
juridical power, . . . and grants a synod that hath 
power of counsel." Samuel Mather, in his Apology,^^ 
urges to find where Christ placed the final termina- 
tion of causes, and rest the case there. He says : 
" It is to be hoped the brethren in these churches . . . 
will never think of placing juridical power in coun- 
cils and synods." He shows ^'^ that a synod or 
consociation is not a " church of churches, as Mr, 
Cotton once spoke, though he afterward spoke and 
thought otherwise.^^ Increase Mather, in his Disqui- 
sition on Ecclesiastical Councils,^** shows that a 
New England Platform synod cannot exercise any 
authority ; that the nature and power of synods is 



SYNODS. 355 

only decisive, not authoritative, i.e. judicial. He 
cites Norton's Catechism : " Ques. What is the 
power of a council ? Ans. To declare truth, not 
to exercise authority." Davenport, in his Apologet- 
ical Reply ,^^ states the power of a classis to be, not 
juridical, but ministerial, stewardly, like that of 
ambassadors. Cotton Mather, in his Ratio Disci- 
plinse,^^ says : " The synods of New England pretend 
to no juridical power, nor any supremacy, but what 
is merely instructive and suasory. . . . When they 
have done, all the churches are at liberty to judge 
how far their doctrine is to be followed." This from 
one of the most stringent men of his day^ and one 
who in early life had strongly advocated the " Pro- 
posals" for a standing juridical council. (See 
Wise's Quarrel of the Churches Espoused, p. 79.) 
Hubbard, in his History of Massachusetts,^^ though 
he complains of both the church and civil govern- 
ment as too popular, still asserts it as a principle 
of the New England Churches, that " there is no 
jurisdiction to which particular churches ought to be 
subject." The Synod of 1637 refused to name the 
persons who held the doctrines they condemned, 
because that assembly (not owning themselves to 
have any judicial power) had not to do with per- 
sons, but doctrines only.^^ Isaac Chauncy, in his 
Divine Institution of Congregational Churches,^^ 
affirms that synods and councils are not juridical. — 
See Appeals ; Councils. 

*In Neal's Puritans, ii. 179. « In Han. i. 295. 'lb. 542. 
4 lb. ii. 64. ^ lb. 180. « lb. 184. ' lb. 300. « lb. iii. 44. ^ lb. 
240. »oib. 251. »* lb. 372. ** Page 17. '=^ lb. 106, 107. 



856 SYNODS. 

^4 Chap. xvi. sect. 4. ^^ p^rt iv. 43. ^^ Page 128. " Pages 19— 
24. i« Pages 29, 30. ^^ Page 229. ^o Pages 172, 173. ^i Page 
184. 22 Winthrop's Journal, i. 238. ^'' Page 136. 



SYNODS, of luhom constituted. — Cambridge 
Platform ^ says : '' Synods are to consist both of 
elders and other church members, endued with gifts 
and sent by the churches, not excluding the presence 
of any brethren in the churches.'' Increase Mather^ 
maintains the right of private members to sit in 
councils and synods, because all agree that they sit 
not by virtue of their office, but their delegation, 
and have no rule of jurisdiction. — See Councils, 
of whom composed. 

^ Chap. xyi. sect. 6. ^ Digq. Ecc. Councils, 25—28 

SYNODS not legislative, — Watts, in his Founda- 
tion of a Christian Church,^ shows that a synod has 
no power to make laws ; if it had, then others might 
be deputed to act in larger synods, and they may 
depute all to the Pope, " so we are at Rome ere we 
are aware." Punchard, in his History,^ shows that 
general synods, with legislative power, were actually 
one great source of corruption to the primitive 
churches. — See Councils ; Legislation. 

^ Works, iii. 220—222. - Page 21. 

SYNODS, for what purposes lawful^ and for what 
unlawfid. — Goodwin, in his Church Government,^ 
argues that it is lawful to ask needed advice even 
of synods assembled for further and unauthorized 
purposes, but not to subject ourselves to them. He 



SYNODS. 357 

says : " If any new cases fall out, let the churches 
advise ;" but maintains that they have no need to 
advise where they know the rule and the facts, much 
less to subject themselves to synod, where God has 
made their duty plain and positive. Davenport, in 
his Power of Congregational Churches,^ says : " If 
a church, when first gathered, had complete power, 
and by the rising up of other churches should be 
deprived of it, then the neighborhood of churches 
should not be a benefit but a disadvantage to them. 
If the church want sufficient light or consent for the 
sentence, then they are to seek light from others, by 
their consent and counsel ; but still preserving the 
power of censure in the church, where Christ placed 
it." Mather and Tompson, in their Answer to 
Herle,^ say : " Let a church have entireness of ju- 
risdiction before she hath neighbors, and be deprived 
of it when God sends such neighbors, and by this 
means she sustains a loss by having neighbors." 
They show that a synod should not be a power of 
government and jurisdiction, but a power of doctrine. 
The matter debated in Acts xv. was a matter of doc- 
trine, therefore it was no matter of jurisdiction. The 
Synod at the College in New England, about 1643, 
decided that consultative synods are very comfortable 
and necessary for the peace and good of churches.^ 
The Reasons of the Independents in the Grand 
Debate in the Westminster Assembly^ say: " The 
scope and end of Acts xv. were to give satisfaction 
to the offended brethren at Antioch, and dogmati- 
cally to declare their judgments in a difficult case of 
conscience, not to put forth any act of juridical 



358 SYNODS. 

power upon any." In their Dissent from the Pro- 
prositionsof the Assembly concerning Synods,^ they 
say: "Although we judge synods of great use for 
finding and declaring truth in difficult cases, . . . 
yet . . ." And they go on to give reasons at length 
against subjection to synods. So Bm-roughs, in his 
Irenicum ; ^ Savoy Confession ; ^ Cotton's Keys ; ^ 
Cambridge Platform ; ^° Higginson's and Hub- 
bard's Attestation to the same ; ^^ and Hutchinson's 
History of Massachusetts.^^ Cotton Mather, in his 
Magnalia,^^ says : " The design of the Synod of 
1637 was not jus dare^ but only jus dicereP — See 
book ii. sect. 4, at length. 

1 Pages 139—145. ^ in Han. ii. 65. ^ ib. 173, 174. ^ Letter 
from a minister in New England to one in Old England, in Reply 
to A. S. (Simon Ash), in ib. 343. ^ Ib. 483. ^ Jb. 497. 7 jb. iii. 
111. 8 Ib. 548. 9 Pages 6, 7. ^° Chap. xvi. sect. 1, 2. ^^ Ib. 70. 
12 Vol. i. 372. 13 Vol. ii. 443. 

SYNODS havenopoiverto excommunicate churches. 
Goodwin shows this at length, book v. chapter xi. : 
" They receive their power to become a church from 
Christ alone, and he only can remove their candle- 
stick out of its place." So Cambridge Platform, 
chapter xv. section 2. 

SYNODS, standings denounced. — Goodwin,^ after 
stating his grounds of dissent from juridical synods, 
proceeds to answer objections, as that the neighbor- 
churches have an interest indirectly in the decisions. 
Ans. : " So have all the churches in the world." In 
the multitude of counsellors there is strength. He 
replies : Let them, then, have the use of counsellors 



SYNODS. 369 



only, and we deny it not ; men will not go for coun- 
sel, unless there be need. Is it inquired, May we 
not submit to such synods for the sake of peace ? 
Ans. : If it be an indifferent matter, we may submit, 
but may not submit not to do our own duty, nor 
give away our own liberty. It is asked, Will it not 
be better to have a standing council, of whom to 
ask advice beforehand, and prevent offence ? He 
shows from Jerome that this has been tried, and all 
at last referred to one man, and so prelacy was set 
up. Barrowe, in his Discovery of a False Church,^ 
denounces their " select classis of ministers, and 
their settled supreme council." Savoy Confession, 
chapter on Institution of Churches, article xxvii.,^ 
says : " Besides these occasional synods or coun- 
cils, there are not instituted by Christ any stated 
synods." 

1 Ch. Gov. 147—149. 2 In Han. i. 46. » lb. iii. 548. 



SYNODS, cautions concerning, — Cotton, in his 
Keys,^ after recommending occasional consociations, 
councils, or synods, with limited powers, says : " Give 
us leave to add this caution, — to see that this con- 
sociation be not perverted either to the oppression or 
diminution of the just liberty and authority of each 
particular church." Davenport, in his Apologetical 
Reply ,^ urges the same caution, in nearly the same 
words. 

^ Page 105. 2 Page 225. 

SYNODS, subordination of^ denounced, — See Sy- 
nods not juridical. 



360 TEACHER. 

SWEARING. — See Oath. 

TEACHER or DOCTOR, Ms office. — The True 
Description of the Visible Church, &c.^ makes it, 
to build, upon the true groundwork, gold, silver, 
precious stones ; to take special care to keep the 
church free from errors, revealing the wood, hay, 
and stubble of false teachers ; and to declare his doc- 
trine so plainly, simply, and purely, that the church 
may grow thereby. Bradshaw, in his English Puri- 
tanism,^ though he makes the pastor the main officer 
in the church, says : " There should also be, in every 
church, a doctor to instruct and catechize the igno- 
rant in the main principles of religion." Hooker, 
in his Survey,^ says : " Many confine the teacher's 
work to the school." But he argues that it extends 
to perfecting the whole body of the church ; that, 
with the pastor, he has a right to administer the 
sacraments ; the aim and scope of the doctor is to 
inform the judgment, deliver fundamental points of 
Christian faith, and handle controversies between 
the church and her adversaries. — See Officers ; 
Teacher distinct from pastor. 

* In Punchard's Hist. 368. ^ In Neal, i. 249. ^ Part ii. 20—22. 

TEACHER, is his office distinct from pastor ? — 
Goodwin, in his Church Government,^ answers the 
plea that they were one and the same, by insisting 
that the Greeks used kai disjunctively at the end of 
a disjunctive enumeration, and applies it to Eph. iv. 
11. ( Query y Is the enumeration strictly disjunctive ?) 
Cambridge Platform ^ says ; " The office of pastor 



TEACHER. 361 

and teacher appears to be distinct." (See ib. on 
Pastor, his office.) Johnson, in his Treatise on the 
Reformed Churches,^ argues that they are distinct, 
from Eph. iv. 11 ; 1 Cor. xii. 5, 6 ; with Rom. xii. 7, 8. 
He says that the distinctive particle is used in Eph. 
iv. 11 in the Syriac translation, which is the oldest. 
Baillie ^ says : " The Independents were for a doctor 
in every congregation, as well as a pastor. . . . The 
absolute necessity of a doctor was, Jiowever, es- 
chewed (by the Westminster Assembly) ; yet, where 
two ministers could be had, one was allowed, ac- 
cording to his gift, to apply himself more to teach- 
ing, and the other to exhortation, according to the 
Scriptures." Cotton Mather, in his Ratio Disci- 
plinae,^ says that, " when there were two ministers 
to a church, one of them was formerly distinguished 
by the name of teacher. . . . More lately, the distinc- 
tion is less regarded ; their being mentioned so as 
they are together in the Sacred Oracles (Eph. iv. 11) 
pleaded for little short of an identity between them." 
The distinction has now gone into practical disuse. 
(See Punchard's View, 80.) I. Chauncy ^ contends 
that " the pastoral office comprehends the whole 
ministry of the church ; but if, by reason of infir- 
mity, or the size of the church, the pastor is unable 
to do the whole work, he may have aid or helps, — 
a teacher to aid him in preaching, or a ruling elder 
to assist in ruling. He that is called to concur 
with the pastor in teaching, waits on that service, 
1 Pet. iv. 10, 11 ; and he that is called on to concur 
with him in ruling is to wait on that work espe- 
cially." And ^ " a church that hath a pastor and 

31 



362 TOLERATION. 

deacon is fully organized , the church requiring no 
more to edification; the pastoral office containing 
in it all the teaching and ruling charge, and the 
deacon's all that concerns the care of the church as 
to externals." Eaton and Taylor, in their De- 
fence,^ say : " There must be pastors distinct from 
teachers." Letchford, in his Plain Dealing : ^ 
" They generally hold pastor and teacher distinct^ 

1 Page 288. ^ Chap. vi. sect. 5. ^ In Han. i. 316. ^ ib. ii. 2IT. 
5 Pages 42, 43. « piyine Inst. Cong. Churches, 61. ^i^, 52. 
^ Page 69. ^ In Hist. Soc. Col. series iii. vol. iii. 65. 

TITHES, involuntary ones unlaivfuL — Jacob's 
Church, in their Confession, art. xxvi.,^ say : " We 
believe tithes for the pastor's maintenance under 
the gospel are not the just and due means thereof." 
They, however, assert that they do not deem them 
unlawful, if they remain voluntary. " And so of 
other set maintenance established by temporal 
laws." They recommend that it be done "by vo- 
luntary conscionable contributions." The Army 
Scruples ^ say : " They should pay ministers who 
employ them. . . . They should not be paid by 
forced tithes." Roger Williams, in his Hireling 
Ministry None of Christ's,^ says : " The civil au- 
thority cannot lawfully enforce the payment of 
tithes, nor prevent those who choose." — See Mini- 
sters, maintenance of, 

^ Han. i. 301* » Page 16. ^ Page 26. 

TOLERATION desired.— K committee of Pres- 
byterians, in the Westminster Assembly, say,^ with 



TOLERATION. 363 

apparent surprise, that it seems to them " the Inde- 
pendents desire liberty of conscience not only for 
themselves, but for all men." Mr. Burroughs re- 
plied, if they might not have liberty to govern them- 
selves in their own way, as long as they ^behaved 
peaceably towards the civil government, they were 
resolved to suffer, or to go to some other place of 
the world where they might enjoy their liberty. 
" But, while men think the civil sword an ordinance 
of God to determine all controversies of divinity, 
and that it must needs be attended with fines and 
imprisonment to the disobedient, . . . there must be 
a base subjection of men's consciences to slavery, a 
suppression of much truth, and great disturbances 
in the Christian world." An Independent writer,^ 
in Answer to the London divines, says : " The mi- 
nisters say, if we tolerate one sect, we must tolerate 
all. . . . True, . . . and men have as good a right to 
the liberty of their consciences as to their clothes 
or estates, no opinions being cognizable by the 
civil magistrate any further than they are inconsis- 
tent with the civil government. . . . Can Bedlam or 
the Fleet open men's understandings, and reduce 
them from error ? " So he goes on with equal 
point and truth. Edwards, in his Gangrsense,^ 
classes together " denying the Scriptures and plead- 
ing for toleration of all religions." He ^ puts the 
Independents at the head of all sectaries, because 
" they were for the toleration of all Christians who 
agreed in the fundamentals of religion." The ordi- 
nance in the time of the Protectorate* provides, 
art. xxxvi., " that none be compelled to conform 



364 TOLERATION. 

to the public religion by penalties or otherwise." 
Art. xxxvii. protects all men in the profession of 
their faith, and exercise of their religion, " so as they 
do not abuse this liberty to the civil injury of others, 
and the actual disturbance of the public peace; 
provided this liberty do not extend to Popery or 
Prelacy, or to such as, under profession of Christ, 
hold forth and practise licentiousness." Consider- 
ing what Popery and Prelacy had done, it is not 
strange that the first legislators for liberty did not 
distinguish between tolerating principles and tole- 
rating overt acts of iniquity. Burton, in his An- 
swer to Prynne, says :^ " The magistrates may not 
tolerate open Papacy and idolatry to be set up in 
the land ; but the conscience of a Papist they are 
no masters or judges of. . . . Evil actions he must 
punish." Baillie, writing from the Westminster 
Assembly,^ says : " The Independents had nearly 
carried a toleration of their way ; but the legerde- 
main, being perceived, was crushed." He says : ^ 
" They plead for the toleration of other sects as 
well as their own."(!) Lord Brooke, in his Dis- 
course on Episcopacy,^ says : " So long as the 
church, in her church tenets, intermeddleth not 
with state matters under the notion of religion, I 
suppose the state is not to interpose." — See two 
next succeeding articles. 

1 In Neal's Puritans, ii. 17. ^ lb. 19. ^ lb. 37. ^ lb. 38. ^ lb. 
135. « In Han. ii. 402. ^ ib. 547. « lb. 558. » lb. 126. 

TOLERATION, why not universal at first in New 
England. — In the work entitled The Independents 



TOLERATION. 365 

Accused and Acquitted, by a member of John Good- 
win's Church, it is said : ^ " I suppose it is easier to 
affirm than to prove that any in New England were 
imprisoned and banished merely for their conscien- 
ces." Welde, in his Answer to Rathband,^ denies 
that " any have been dealt with for dissenting from 
us in matters of discipline." Katherine Chidley, in 
her Answer to Edwards (wounding him as with a 
millstone from a wall), says : ^ "It may be, that 
there be some there who have taken it upon them 
to bend men's consciences, as you and your fellows 
do here." She suggests that " there might be fear, 
that, upon complaint made for disorder, in suffering 
the liberty of the gospel there, they might have 
been sent back, . . . and committed to the same 
stinking prison here in London, there to have been 
murdered, as divers of the Lord's people have been 
of late years." This Hanbury represents as throw- 
ing " a blaze of light on their conduct, which seemed 
to be inexcusable with their principles and profes- 
sion." Radcliffe, Gardner, and Morton, who had 
been sent back for misdemeanors, were actually in 
1633 petitioning the king and council against them, 
and representing them as seditious.^ Besides, most 
of the Massachusetts Planters had been educated 
to believe in the necessity of purifying the church 
with the sword. They had not yet learned that it 
was lawful to tolerate any who did not hold the 
essentials of religion ; and, even in this, they had 
advanced beyond almost all who had preceded them 
since the commencement of the dark ages. Yet 
there are who seem vexed with them for not learn- 

31* 



366 TOLERATION. 

ing every thing in an hour. Such persons might 
as well term the ancient Greeks and Romans be- 
sotted savages, because they had no railroads or 
steamboats, and Newton' and Franklin dolts, be- 
cause they never discovered the magnetic telegraph 
nor the electro-magnetic light. They wonder that 
those who had already bared their necks to the 
halter, and their breasts to the sword, should not 
have made sure their own execution by retaining 
within their patent those whose conduct would 
surely have affixed on them the imputation of doc- 
trines which themselves did not believe, and prac- 
tices w^iich ^they could not approve, though they 
would many of them have gladly tolerated these 
things if they could. Chimney-corner soldiers of 
this day would have fought the battle of liberty 
better than they did. Some, moreover, demand 
that the principles of Congregationalism should 
cure all the depravity and Diotrephesian spirit of 
all who hoist its colors, or take hold of its skirts, or 
live near where it is professed ; forgetting the say- 
ing of Luther, " Every man has a little pope in his 
own belly." But, with all its faults, or rather the 
faults of its professors, we fearlessly challenge the 
showing of equal fruits of civil and religious liberty, 
growing out of any other principles, since the world 
was made. — See next preceding and next succeed- 
ing articles. 

* In Han. ii. 545. « lb. 298. lb. 112. -* Hubbard's History 
Mass. 153. 

TOLERATION, how far should it he practised by 



TOLERATION. 367 

a state ? — Burroughs, in his Irenicum,^ says : " The 
devil must not be let alone because he is got into 
men's consciences ; ... if a man's error be danger- 
ous to the state, he may be cut off ; . . . errorists, who 
by any means do not serve the state, may be de- 
prived of some privileges." He acknowledges it 
" hard to cut in the right joint " in this case. The 
difficulty, doubtless, lay in not distinguishing between 
mere error and seditious overt acts, as ground for 
punishment. Hanbury ^ describes at large the doings 
of the London ministers in the Westminster As- 
sembly against toleration. The case of Roger Wil- 
liams has been much insisted on, as an instance of 
the anti-tolerating spirit of our fathers. It, however, 
needs proof that the main cause was ecclesiastical. 
Winthrop ^ says the governor and assistants were 
doubtful of the lawful use of the cross, but con- 
demned the manner of Mr. Williams's proceedings ; 
therefore they wrote to Mr. Downing in England, 
excusing themselves, expressing their dislike of the 
thing, and their determination to punish the offend- 
ers. As for his Baptist principles being the cause, 
it was an afterthought. He was converted to these 
after he went to Rhode Island in 1638, and re- 
nounced his connection with the Baptist order in 
1639.^ Dunster and Chauncy, the first two presi- 
dents of Harvard Cofiege, held, one to believers 
baptism only, and the other to immersion. It is, 
therefore, preposterous to assert that even a supposed 
leaning of Williams that way could have been the 
cause of his banishment. " He spoke dangerous 
words against the patent." * Professor Knowles, in 



368 TOLERATION. 

his Life of Williams,^ says : " He was charged with 
insisting that the charter ought to be returned to the 
king." This, he says, " would have been very unwise ; 
but we can hardly believe that he would carry his 
opposition to this unreasonable length." And is it 
credible, both that this positive testimony was false, 
and that he was banished for an opposition which 
was not '^unreasonable"? Knowles condemns 
cutting the cross out of the king's colors, but says : 
" We have no evidence that Williams advised to it." 
What, then, are we to think of the accusations of 
his cotemporaries, which Williams did not deny ? 
Probably Williams would have scorned to have even 
put them upon the proof of the fact. Knowles be- 
lieves the true reason of his banishment to have been 
the doctrine that the civil power had no control over 
conscience. But this doctrine, though not universal, 
was no novelty at that time ; Professor Knowles to 
the contrary. He shows'^ that " Cotton and his as- 
sociates argued that they ought to promote truth and 
oppose error by all the methods in their power" 
This was their true error. In the end he gives the 
righteous verdict, that Williams was unnecessarily 
scrupulous, and his opponents thought it duty to 
vindicate what they thought to be truth. He might 
have added their necessity, from the operations of 
their enemies with the company, king, and parlia- 
ment, at the very time that an insult had been offered 
to the king's colors. Williams himself, in his Bloody 
Tenet,^ shows that God's ministers are able to kill 
" spiritual wolves only with spiritual weapons." 
Cotton, in his Bloody Tenet Washed,^ affirms that 



TOLERATION. 369 

" fundamentals are so clear, that a man cannot but 
in conscience be convinced of them, after two or 
three admonitions." He undertakes to show/° that 
the prosperity of the church is inseparably con- 
nected with the civil power. Williams, in his 
Answer to Cotton's Letter, says,^^ that one of the 
magistrates, on summing up the case, said: Mr. 
Williams holds these four things : " 1. We have 
not our land by patent from the king, but the 
natives are the true owners of it ; * and we ought 
to repent having received it by such a patent. 
2. It is not lawful to call a wicked man to pray or 
swear, as being contrary unto God's worship. 3. It 
is not lawful to hear any of the ministers of 
the parish assemblies in England. 4. That the 
civil magistrates' power extends only to the bodies 
and goods and outward estates of men, &c." Cot- 
ton, in his Answer,^^ denies that these four things 
were the cause of his banishment, and knows not 
what magistrate asserted it. The two first, many, 
if not most, of the colony admit; and there are 
many who hold the two latter, who are still tolerated 

* John Q. Adams, in liis Plymouth Anniversary Oration, page 
23, says : What right has the huntsman of the forest to the thou- 
sand miles over which he has accidentally ranged in quest of prey ? 
Shall he not only resist civilization himself, but prevent the 
cultivation of whole countries ? He shows that our fathers fairly 
bought what they took from the natives. He also demonstrates 
the same truth, in a masterly manner, in his Second Century 
Oration at Boston, in Historical Society's Collection, series iii. 
vol. ix. 196, 197. But not so, as he shows elsewhere in this 
oration, was the seizing«their cultivated country, and forcing them 
beyond the Mississippi, by the present generation. 



870 TOLERATION. 

here. He asserts*^ that "it was for his tumultuous 
carriage against the patent, and his violently with- 
standing the oath of fidelity." Cotton denies having 
had a hand in his banishment, but not that the 
magistrates may punish for sins against conscience. 
Williams says, in his Answer to Cotton's Letter,^^ 
that personally he honors and loves Cotton, and 
speaks of him as, otherwise than his persecuting 
tenets, an excellent and worthy man. He com- 
plains^^ that Cotton addresses him as beloved in 
Christ, and " denies him a common air to breathe." 
Cotton was evidently wrong in supposing that men 
may be civilly punished for the alleged crime of 
sinning against their own consciences ; and Wil- 
liams, in supposing that he might act against the 
charter, thereby endangering the charter privileges of 
his fellow-citizens, and not be molested by the civil 
law. (For a succinct account of this controversy, 
see Remarks on the History of Salem, in Historical 
Society's Collection, series i. vol. vii. Prefix iii. — v.) 
Upham's Life of Sir H. Vane, the Younger,^^ says : 
" It was for religious freedom, in a peculiar sense, 
that our fathers contended. They were faithful to 
the cause, as they understood it. The true principle 
of religious liberty, in its wide and full comprehen- 
sion, had never dawned upon their minds." Cal- 
lender, in his Historical Discourse,^^ says : " It was 
not the peculiar fault of the people of Massachusetts 
to think themselves bound in conscience to use the 
sword of the civil magistrate to open understandings. 
. . . All other Christian sects acted as though they 
thought this the very best service they could do to 



TOLERATION. 371 

God." Philip Nye, in his Lawfumess of the Oath 
of Supremacy, &c.,^^ says : " All men are by nature 
equal ;" yet he argues the right of kings to govern 
in ecclesiastical affairs. He asserts ^^ that no ruler, 
civil or ecclesiastical, has power to enforce the soul, 
and stilP^ maintains that the magistrate is keeper 
of both tables.* "Wisner, in his History of the Old 
South Church, says no instance existed in the days 
of our fathers, without an established religion. In- 
stead of railing at them for their blindness, we should 
wonder that they were so far advanced. How 
natural to say. Go, plant your principles somewhere 
else. He quotes Magnalia, book vii. 24 : " Even the 
Quakers would say, if they had gotten into a corner 
of the world, and at great toil and charge made a 
wilderness habitable, on purpose to be there undis- 
turbed in their worship, they would never love to 
have the New Englanders come among them, and 
disturb their public worship." This the Quakers 
did in the New" England Congregations : ^^ women 
came into the congregations ; some blacked, others 
naked. These were overt acts, which would ensure 
civil interference at this day. Our fathers, in their 
act against them, assign as a motive a fear that 
the " scenes of Munster might be repeated here." 
Alden Bradford, in his Plymouth Anniversary Ora- 
tion,^^ asserts that the severities of persecutions 
were never known in New Plymouth Colony. 
Still there were then severe laws against Quakers. 
(See Plymouth Colony Laws.) Even in Rhode 
Island, the rights of Protestant citizens were not 
* Our fathers saw not the full consequences of their tenets. 



3T2 TOLERATION. 

extended to Catholics till 1783.*^* Canwright, on 
ToleratloD,'* argues that "the blasphemer and 
stubborn idolater ought to be put to death." He 
argues at length for the perpetuity of Moses's law; 
and that for a magistrate to tolerate a seducer was 
to undo the word of God where he sat in judg- 
ment. Ward, in his Simple Cobbler of Agawam, 
argues that it is treason against God to tolerate 
error in fundamentals. Locke, in his Letters on 
Toleration." shows that the argument, founding 
the right of magistrates to enforce religion on 
that of parents and instructors to prescribe and 
enforce studies, fails ; because this right continues 
only during minority of children. He shows'* that, 
if one magistrate may use force, then all may use 
it, and ought to use it, to enforce the religion they 
believe to be true. He asserts'" that a right to use 
force in this matter implies that he who uses it is an 
infallible guide. And. if he ought to use it to induce 
to believe, then still more to induce to embrace the 
true religion. He says : '' To punish for rejecting 
the true religion, the magistrate must judge what 
the true relio^ion is. So. if the true religion is everv 
where the national, they must punish differently in 
different countries. Again : '^ " You teU us that, by 
the law of naturcj magistrates are obliged to promote 

* Professor GammeU, in his Biography of Roger Williams (in 
Spaiks's Am. Biog. ser. ii., voL iv. 210), sets down the clause 
excepting Catholics from citixenship^ as an interpolation of the 
Bhode Island Becords. He does this on negaCire eridence. Bev. 
J. B. Pelt has pointed the compiler to the law itself, pnhlished in 
1744, of which an entire copy is in the library of the 1 
setts Hifitorical Society. 



TRANSLATION. 373 

the true religion. What, then, is the Emperor of 
Peru obliged to do, who was not so much as within 
hearing of the Christian religion ? " — See last two 
succeeding articles. 

* In Han. iii. 109—112. ^ ib. 97—125. ^ Journal, i. 150. * lb. 
293—307 ; and Hubbard, 207, 208. ^ Hubbard, 206. ^ Pages 60— 
80. "^ lb. 76. 8 Page 115. ^ Page 9. ^^ Pages 10, 11. ^^ Page 
375. ^2 Page 26. ^'^ Page 27. '"^ Pages 367, 368. ^^ Page 370. 
16 In Sparks's Am. Biog. iv. 147. ^^ p^ge 16. ^^ Page 17. ^^Page 
32. 20 Page 43. ^i Page 86. 22 p^gg. 10. 23 Repeal of Act of 
Disability, in Hist. Soc. Col. series iii. vol. v. 243, 244 ; and E,. I. 
Laws, 1744. 3, 4. 24 page 4. 25 pages 161, 162. ^6 pagg 265. 
27 Pages 289, 290. ^s Page 303. ^9 Page 399. 

TRADITION {i e. example), apostolic , binding-. — 
Jacob's Church, in their Confession, art. xvii.,* say 
that every ordinance or institution apostolic, out of 
the Scriptures, is of divine authority. 

1 In Han. i. 298. 

TRADITION, superstitious. — John Robinson, in 
his Posthumous Work,^ represents some as so car- 
ried away with their former guides, that they think 
it half-heresy to call in question any of their declara- 
tions or practices. " We must not think that only 
Pharisees and Papists are superstitious, and addicted 
to the traditions of the elders and the authority of 
the church." 

' In Han. i. 452 ; and Works, iii. 355, 366. 

TRANSLATION. — Hanbury ^ asserts that the 
Congregationalists complain that King James re- 
quired the translators to use the old ecclesiastical 
32 



374 TYPES. 

words ; as, for instance, to put church for congrega- 
tion^ thus making the translation a sectarian one. 
The Defence of the Petition for Reformation^ com- 
plains that, while the Geneva and former church 
translation renders Acts xiv. 23, " And when they 
had ordained them elders by election^^^ our new 
translation leaves out the words " by election ; " and 
that in 1 Cor. xii. 28, where it was formerly govern- 
ors^ it is now translated governments. So Doddridge 
in locis ; see also Dr. Bacon's Church Manual, 21 ; 
and for a learned and critical handling of the ques- 
tion, Coleman's Primitive Church, chap. iv. — See 
Ordination, iinposition of hands, 

1 Han. i. 2, note. ^ Addi-ess to the Reader, in ib. i. 1-31. 

TREASURY, what may be put into it ? — Smith, 
after his defection, maintained ^ that " they that are 
without, if they would give any thing, must lay it 
apart severally for the treasury, and it must be em- 
ployed to common use." Ainsworth replied, that 
goods gotten by violence, extortion, murder, theft, 
or the like evil way, may not be put into the trea- 
sury, even though the members of the church do 
offer them. He supposes that the example of Matt, 
xxvii. 6, 7, will not bear us out in appropriating to 
common use all unbelievers' gifts. 

' Han. i. 184. 

TYPES. — Goodwin, in his Church Government,* 
shows that an Old Testament one applies to an in- 
stitution under the New, just so far as God applies 
it, and no farther ; otherwise we are led away by 



UNIFORMITY. 373 

endless fanciful analogies. — See Dr. Emmons's 
Sermon on Heb. x. 9, in Works, v. 427, 

' Page 173. 

UNANIMITY, is it necessary in church acts ? — 
Welde, in his Answer to Rathband,^ shows that in 
the admission of members, if some few be dissatis- 
fied, they used to submit to. the rest, and sit down 
in their acts. Letchford, in his Plain Dealing,^ 
says: " In Boston, they commonly rule by unani- 
mous consent, if they can ; in Salem, by majorities." 
Punchard, in his View,^ says : " It is not common 
to settle questions of great importance by the vote 
of a bare majority. A greater degree of unanimity 
is usually sought, and generally obtained." In a 
note he informs us, from Rev. A. Carson's Reason 
for Separating from the Synod of Ulster, that Con- 
gregation alists in " Ireland consider entire unanimity 
indispensable." It may be easily perceived that this 
doctrine puts a veto into the hands of any ill-dis- 
posed member. — See Majorities ; Minorities. 

* In Han. ii. 302. ^ In Hist. Soc. Col. series iii. vol. iii. 74. 
3 Page 170. 

UNIFORMITY, how far attainable and desirable, 
Goodwin, in his Church Government,^ argues it 
prejudicial to oblige either to a national or presby- 
terial uniformity, and oblige, for uniformity's sake, 
to the same pitch and model that one church should 
not practise further than another. The apostle's 
rule is, that, so far as we have attained^ we should 
all walk by the same rule. And the churches may 



376 UNION. 

establish a common rule among them, so far as they 
have attained ; but, if any be otherwise minded, 
they should wait till God shall reveal this in its 
time. Otherwise the churches will grow corrupt, 
because the greater part is still more corrupt. The 
general Scripture rule is made in favor of the weak, 
not against them. The Desires of the Indepen- 
dents^ argues unifor.mity attainable, so far as 
described in Phil. iii. 16 ; and that, beyond this, all 
efforts at it will prove perfect tyranny. C. Upham, 
in his Century Sermon,^ thinks that uniformity 
might be lost by a coercive course, if that could be 
lost which was never gained. Cotton Mather, in 
his Ratio Disciplinse,^ condemns those who, with 
Phaetonic fury, would set the world on fire to pro- 
mote it. He quotes IrensBus : " A diversity in 
lesser matters commends a church persevering in 
the unity of the faith." Dr. Bacon, in his Church 
Manual,^ says : " The only security for uniformity 
is dead indifference. The only security for brethren 
that think and inquire is love and liberty." 

* Page 236. ^ j^ Han. iu. 64, 65. ^ Page 55. * Page 185. 
^ Page 177. 

UNION, scriptural, what — Dr. Isaac Barrow, in 
his Treatise on the Pope's Supremacy, published 
in 1680,^ shows that it does not consist in being 
under one government politically, but in union of 
spirit. Congregationalists agree to these arguments 
of this powerful Episcopal writer. Indeed, they 
usually apply all the arguments of Episcopalians 
against Popery, to prove Congregational principles, 



UNITY. 377 

as they do those of Presbyterians against Prelacy. 
Robinson, in his parting address to the Pilgrims,^ 
says : " Study union with the godly people of Eng- 
land in all things, where you can have it without 
sin, rather than in the least measure to affect a di- 
vision or separation from them." — See note on the 
efforts of Drury, on this point, in Eliot's Biog. Diet. 
342. The original of Norton's letter there referred 
to, with the signatures, is in the Antiquarian Li- 
brary, Worcester. — See Separation. 

1 In Han. i. 11, 12. ^ ib. 394, note. 

UNION of Christians, — Neal, in his History of 
the Puritans,^ shows the happy effects of the meet- 
ings of ministers of different denominations in 
Worcestershire and the West of England during 
the protectorate, upon general principles, not to 
meddle with politics nor the subject of the keys. 
He shows, too, how these meetings were opposed 
by the bigoted of the various sects. Had Baxter, 
the prime mover, always thus promoted peace- 
principles, instead of advocating civil non-resist- 
ance, he had done still more good in this contentious 
world. — See Resistance. 

1 Vol. ii. 137. 

UNITY, churchy what — Goodwin, in his Cate- 
chism,* show^s it to consist in being of one mind 
and one heart, though every man must speak as he 
judgeth, and not prevaricate. Still we must be of 
one heart, of a heart to draw as close to another 
as may be, and to drive it as far as truth will bear. 

32* 



378 USURPATION 

Lord King, in his Enquiry,^ shows that it does not 
consist in uniformity of rites and customs, nor of 
consent to the non-essential points of Christianity ; 
and that whoever undertakes to enforce either of 
these to promote the unity of the church, only there- 
by violates the church's unity and concord; but 
that it does consist "in a harmonious consent to 
the essential articles of religion." Neander, in his 
Planting and Training of the Church,^ strongly 
intimates the same from the decision of the apos- 
tolical assembly at Jerusalem. The Defence of 
Matthew Henry's Brief Enquiry into the Nature 
of Schism * says : " Moral unity of the church con- 
sists in love, not in adherence to the ministry ; 
for this would render it impossible for the laity to 
reform the churches." Polhill, on Schism, shows 
that the unity of the church is a divine thing, and 
does not consist in human rites, liturgy, diocesan 
Episcopacy, nor the civil law^s of magistrates. He 
says : ^ "In the first or golden age of the church, 
there was little of ceremony, but much of unity." 
Sir Edwin Sandys, in his Europae Speculum,'' 
shows the insurmountable obstacles to complete 
outward unity in his day. 

1 Pages 33, 34. ^ Part i. 156, 158. 3 Page 83. * Pages 4—6. 
* Pages 1—23. ^ lb. 10. ^ Pages 194—210. 

UNITY, when perfect — Burroughs, in his Ireni- 
cum,^ says : " The unity of the faith and the per- 
fect man go together, Eph. iv. 13. When that is 
done, our work is done for this world.'^ 

* In Han. iii. 123. 



I 



VOTERS. 879 

USURPATION, ecclesiastical^ to be resisted in the 
beginning. — Wise, in his Quarrel of the Churches 
Espoused/ urges the rnaxira, Obsta princijnis (Resist 
beginnings), as a reason for rejecting the famous 
Juridical Proposals of 1705. These he compares 
to Aaron's calf (the work of a good man for a bad 
object), and thinks they should be treated as that 
calf was, Exod. xxxii. 20. He thinks that the beast 
with seven heads and ten horns was once just 
about such a calf, till the potentates of the earth 
reared it on the choicest royal cows, and at length 
tipped his horns with iron and shod his hoofs with 
brass, till few of them dare take it by the horns, it 
was grown so pompous and furiously mad. Well 
have Congregationalists, in general, followed his 
advice. '' In deference to some good men " (or 
their prospective votes), "the proposals were never 
carried beyond the bounds of mere proposals." ^ So 
have fared the subsequent proposals, having all 
died in their birth. The Connecticut Consocia- 
tionists did not claim to be strict Congregation- 
alists in the beginning,^ and have ever been divided 
on the vital question, whether the consociation has 
juridical or only advisory power.^ 

^ Page 138. ^ c. Mather's Hat. Dis. 183, 184. ^ Trumbun's 
Hist. Con. i. 486. * Dr. Stiles's Con. Serm. 74—80. 

VETO. — See Pastor, has he a negative vote ? 

VOTERS, who are, in the church ? — Robinson, 
in his Apology,* argues the privilege to all of vot- 
ing in church judgments ; " by which," he says, 



380 WAR. 

"we do not understand, as it hath pleased some 
contumaciously to upbraid us, to include women 
and children, but only men, making account that 
as children by their nonage, so women by their sex, 
are debarred the use of authority in the church." 

1 In Punchard's Hist. 348, 349 ; and Works, iii. 43. 

VOTERS, restriction of affected ecclesiastical 
affairs* — In 1631, the General Court of Massachu- 
setts " made an order that for time to come none 
should be admitted to the freedom of the body poli- 
tic, but such as were church members/ In 1646, 
the subjects of these restrictions in Massachusetts 
and Plymouth petitioned " that civil liberty and 
freedom be granted to all English." In 1657, the 
disaffected endeavored to get redress by claiming 
their rights to the Lord's Supper.^ This resulted 
in the adoption of the Half-way Covenant, by the 
Synod of 1662.^ In 1664, the order was repealed ; 
but " the minister was to certify that the candidates 
for freedom were of orthodox sentiments, and of 
good lives and conversation." The bearings 
of these restrictions on the efforts to establish the 
Half-way Covenant and the Church-membership 
of the baptized may be learned from Trumbull's 
History of Connecticut, and Wisner's History of 
the Old South Church, Boston. — See Consocia- 
tions, origin of ; Half-way Covenant. 

^ Hutchinson's Hist. Mass. i. 30. ^ Wisner's Hist. Old South 
Church, Boston, 4, note. ^ lb. page 5. 

WAR. — Burroughs, in his Irenicum, says : " The 



I 



WIDOWS. 881 

apostle doth not here (James iv. 1) condemn wars 
simply. This was the error of the old Manichees, 
raised np again by some among us (the Anabap- 
tists). There can be no reason given why our civil 
right to our religion may not as well be maintained 
by the sword, as our civil right to our houses and 
lands. This answers all the objections from the 
practice of the primitive' Christians : . . . they never 
had any civil right to the practice of their religion. 
The wars meant in the text are contentions, jars, 
divisions among Christians." He says : ^ " Dividing 
terms are not broad among the arniy ; . . . soldiers 
united in love, and hating that which is vile, are 
exceedingly strengthened in valor. Ever since our 
armies have been united, God hath wonderfully 
blessed them. A rare instance, but still a real one, 
in which an army can be cited as a model of a 
collection of Christians. — See Resistance. 

^ In Han. iii. 116. ^ lb. 120, 121. 

WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY, no ecclesiastical 
authority. — Neal, in his History of the Puritans,^ 
shows that their confession never was adopted by 
the English Parliament, nor did it become the law 
of the land ; but was forthwith made the test of 
the kirk of Scotland. Parliament called them to 
sit,^ with the express injunction that " this ordinance 
shall not give them, nor shall they in this assembly 
assmne ox exercise^ any jurisdiction, power, or autho- 
rity ecclesiastical whatsoever." — See Savoy Con- 
fession. 

» Vol. ii. 41. 2ib. i. 458, 



882 WITGHCRAFT. 

WIDOWS, their office, — Robinson, in the Appen- 
dix to Mr. Perkins,^ makes it " to afford to the sick 
and impotent in body, not able otherwise to help 
themselves, their cheerful and comfortable help.'' 
So the True Description of the Visible Church;^ 
Cambridge Platform ; ^ Cariwright's Answer to 
Whitgift,- This was obviously a very necessary 
office in the times of persecution, but, so far as I 
know, is now universally laid aside, as of special 
origin and institution. The True Description of 
the Visible Church^ says they must be at least 
sixty years of age. <kc. Isaac Chauncy. in his 
Divine In:?titution of Congregational Churches,^ 
says : '• And there may be women's helps, called 
deaconesses.'' — See Xeanders Church History^ 
vol. i. sect. 2. p. 1S3; Punchard's View, 85. Some 
suppose the widows to have been taken into the 
number to be provided for ; widows indeed, having 
none to provide for them ; received, both in charity 
and to proraore their usefulness. 

*Iii Punchard's Hist. 3-53. *Ib. 369. ^ Qhap. viL sect. 7. 
*Page 191. 'In Punchard's Hist. 367; and Works, iii. 429. 
6 Page 62. 

WITCHCRATT. — The early New England 
Congregationalists are often stigmatized as having 
been peculiar in their delusions concerning witch- 
craft. But the same delusion prevailed all over the 
Christian world. Scotland, v^ith her semi-infalli- 
ble kirk, was even then doing more work of the 
same kind than was done in the New England 
colonies. The Kind's Bench in England, with Sir 



WITCHCRAFT. 383 

Matthew Hale at the head, drove forward the same 
business, and employed a witch-hunter by profes- 
sion.^ But, lo ! in Essex county, Mass., it is dis- 
covered that the supposed ordeal for detecting the 
guilty may be defective. Judge Sewall, with tears, 
bewails the wrong he has been superstitiously 
inflicting on the unhappy accused, condemned, and 
executed ; the world are publicly informed of the 
discovered error; and the multitude now agree to 
cast the obloquy on the first discoverers and forsa- 
kers of the wrong. And (O shame!) Congrega- 
tionalists, and some of them in high standing, 
carelessly perpetuate the obloquy, by commingling 
their false invectives against the first reformers on 
this subject with the truthful history of our country. 
As well might we disparage the sagacity of 
Columbus, because he was once ignorant of the 
existence of the Western World. Witchcraft was 
almost the only subject upon which the Christian 
world was agreed, till our fathers discovered their 
own error therein, and led the way which has since 
been universally followed. A letter from T. Brattle, 
F.R.S., Oct. 8, 1692,^ though expressing a disbelief 
in witchcraft, attributes the matter to Satanic influ- 
ence ; and says it was " proved a slander that more 
than forty men in Andover could raise a witch as 
quick as any astrologer." He expressly acquits 
Increase Mather from being in favor of the prose- 
cutions, and reckons him among those who took 
the same ground with himself; being dissatisfied 
with the course pursued. Eliot, in his Biographi- 
cal Dictionary,^ art. Calef, Robert, speaks of In- 



5 



384 WITCHCRAFT. 

crease and Cotton Mather as identified with a 
defence of the course ; an insinuation from which 
such testimony as the above from Brattle (an oppo- 
nent of the Mathers') ought for ever to free, — at 
least the father. J. Moody defended and aided 
the accused in their escape, at his own peril.^ Dr. 
Watts, in a letter to Cotton Mather in 1719—20," 
cannot believe that the spectral evidence is suffi- 
cient for conviction, though he is convinced " that 
there is much agency of the devil in these affairs, 
and perhaps there were some real witches too.'' 
Even Calef, one of the earliest opposers of the 
mode of testing witches, seems to have but very 
confused notions on the subject ; sometimes seem- 
ingly admitting, and anon denying, special pos- 
session. (See his work entitled Wonders of the 
Invisible World.) Doubtless, ministers were many 
of them equally confused in their views, in those 
practically fearful times. Yet it is worthy of note, 
that the opposers of Mr. Parris, one of the greatest 
agents in the tragedies, represent his principles as 
"differing from the opinion of the generality of 
orthodox ministers in the country." ^ This was in 
1693. Increase Mather, in his Cases of Con- 
science,^ gives many cautions against condemning 
on insufficient testimony. He inveighs against the 
trial by water, and reduces the points of evidence 
to two, viz. : Voluntary confession of sane per- 
sons; and two witnesses to the doing of that 
which none can do but by supernatural power. 
For a lucid view of the Scripture doctrine concern- 
ing witchcraft, see Kitto's Cyclopedia of Biblical 



WITHDRAWINa. 585 

Literature. He demonstrates that it refers to pre- 
tended supernatural powers. 

1 Pond's Mather Family, 110—130. ^ In Hist. Soc. Col. series 
i. vol. V. 61—79. 3 Page 95. ^ Eliot, Biog. Diet. 328, 329, note. 
* In Hist. Soc. Col. series i. vol. v. 202. ^ More Wonders of the 
Invisible World, 126. ^ Pages 34, 38. 

WITHDRAWING communion; the extent of the 
power of churches respecting each other. — Cam- 
bridge Platform* takes this ground, and asserts 
that churches have no more power over each other 
than one apostle had over another. See Upham's 
Rat. Dis. 143. — See Churches discipline each 
other^ SfC, ; Excommunication, one church has not 
power of Over another. 

^ Chap. XV. sect. 2. 

WITHDRAWING from communion^ what have 
churches to do with those ? — Bradshaw, in his 
English Puritanism,* says : " If . . . offenders will 
voluntarily withdraw from communion, the church 
have no further concern with them." The Congre- 
gational ManuaP says of such: " The church may 
withdraw fellowship from him, and esteem and de- 
clare itself discharged from any further watch and 
care over him." Mitchell^ holds the contrary, say- 
ing : " The gospel knows no such rule ; it supposes 
no separation from the church, but by regular dis- 
mission to another church or by excommunication." 
Yet^ he quotes approvingly from Say brook Plat- 
form, that the church may simply disown or cease 
to know him as a member : he having thereby cut 

33 



38^ 



WITHDRAWING. 



himself off from the church's communion, the 
church may justly esteem and declare itself dis- 
charged from any further inspection over him." 
Owen, in his Nature of a Gospel Church,^ uses 
nearly the words last quoted, and says : " Some say 
that this is enough ; " and adds : " It is sufficient 
for those who own no office-power in excommuni- 
cation." Owen maintains that the church have 
further duties to do, which they owe both to them- 
selves and the offender. Isaac Chauncjr, in his 
Divine Institution of Congregational Churches,® 
says of one departing to non-communion, or to 
communion with another church : " He doth dis- 
franchise and excommunicate himself." He as- 
serts,*^ that, if a member thus withdraw, the church 
ought to declare, that he, being sinfully departed 
from them, is no longer under its watch, and is not 
to return till he has given satisfaction to the church. 
The Hea3s of Agreement by the United Congrega- 
tional and Presbyterian Ministers^ says: "It may 
sometimes come to pass, that a church member, 
not otherw^ise scandalous, may fully withdraw. . . . 
He having cut himself off from that church's com- 
munion, the church may justly esteem and declare 
itself discharged from any further inspection over 
him." 

»In Neal's Puritans, i. 249. « Page 35, ^ q ^ide, 117. ^ ib. 
116. * Works, XX. 558. « Pages 116, 117. ' lb. 128. ^ In Con- 
gregational Order, 257, 258. 

WITHDRAWING to other churches^ when denied 
a dismission. — Watts, in his Terms of Commu- 



women's eights. 387 

nion,^ asserts, that, if a church refuse to dismiss a 
member to another church, he may withdraw. — 
See Affinity ; DismssioN ; Members, may a church 
receive^ without dismission ? 

1 Works, iii. 253. 

WOMEN'S EIGHTS. — Robinson, in his Reply 
to Bernard,^ enumerates, among their ecclesiastical 
rights, making profession of faith and confession of 
sin ; saying amen to the church's prayers ; singing 
psalms vocally ; accusing a brother of sin ; witness- 
ing an accusation, or defending themselves being 
accused ; and, where no man will, reproving the 
church rather than it should go on in sin. He 
holds them debarred from voting and ordinary pro- 
phesying (i.e. publicly expounding and exhorting), 
but not from simple speaking. Ainsworth, in his 
Reply to Clyfton,^ says : " And although woman, in 
regard to her sex, may not speak or teach in the 
church, yet with other women, and in her private 
family, she openeth her mouth in wisdom, and the 
doctrine of grace is on her tongue. Miriam was a 
guide to the women of Israel, and Priscilla helped to 
expound the way of God more perfectly to Apollos." 
Robinson ^ advocates the same in his Letter to the 
Church in London. The Synod in Boston, in 
1637, condemned the proceeding of a public meet- 
ing, where some sixty or more were present weekly ; 
and one woman took upon her the whole exercise 
in a prophetical way.^ Isaac Chauncy, in his Di- 
vine Institution of Congregational Churches,^ says : 
" Women may not speak or exercise authority in 



388 WORSHIP. 

the church." Eliot, in his Ecclesiastical History 
of Massachusetts,® says Cotton would not consent 
that his wife should make an open confession of 
her faith, when she joined the church, considering 
it as against modesty ; but she was examined by 
the elders. John Milton, in his Treatise on Chris- 
tian Doctrine,'^ after advocating the right of every 
brother to teach and expound the gospel, adds : 
" Women are, however, enjoined to keep silence in 
the churches." See Neander's Church History, i. 
104. — See Preach, who may ? 

^ In Han. i. 214, and Punchard's Hist. 331 ; and Works, ii. 
215, 216. 2 Han. i. 281. ^ lb. 450. ^ Winthrop's Journal, i. 240. 
^ Page 105. 6 In Hist. Soc. Col. series i. vol. ix. 22. ^ Yol. ii. 204. 

WORSHIP, instituted^ a church may not impose 
additions to, — Owen, in his Catechism,^ says : A 
church may not impose additions to instituted wor- 
ship. Bradshaw, in his English Puritanism,^ says : 
" The Puritans hold it to be high presumption to 
institute, and bring into divine worship, such rites 
and ceremonies of religion as are acknowledged to 
be no parts of divine worship at all." See also his 
general arguments, proving tHat the ceremonies 
imposed upon the Puritans by the prelates were 
unlawful.^ 

* Works, xix. 490. * In his Treatise on Worship and Ceremo- 
nies, 36. 3Ib. 61— 81. 



BRIEF NOTICES 



OF SOME OF THE 



PRINCIPAL AUTHORS, TREATISES, AND ASSEMBLIES, 



KEFERRED TO IN THIS DICTIONAB.T. 



ABBREVIATIONS. 



In the following notices, — 

H. TJ. . . stands for . . graduated at Harvard University.* 

Y. C Yale College. 

B. U Brown University.* 

D. C . Dartmouth College. 

W.C "Williams College. 

N.H Nassau Hall. 

(1) implies that the work thus noted may be found in the — 

Library of American Antiquarian Society. 

(2) . , . Librai-y of Brown University. 

(3) . . . Library of Harvard University. 

(4) . . . Library of Boston Athenaeum. 

(5) . . . Library of Massachusetts ffistorical Society, Bost. 

(6) . . . New England Library, Old South Church, Boston. 

(7) . . . Library of the Theological Seminary, Andover. 

(8) . . . Commonw^ealth Library, Boston, State House. 

(9) . . . Library of Yale College. 

(10) . . . Connecticut Hist. Society's Library, Hartford, 

(a) . . . Massachusetts Historical Society's Collection. 

(6) . . . Historical Memorials, by Hanbury. 

(c) . . . History of Congregationalism, by Punchard. 

(eZ) . . . History of the Puritans by Neal. 

D. died. set. aged. 

When several figures occur within the same parenthesis, — thus 
(1, 2, 4, 8), or (3, 1, 2, 4), the first of the series is of the edition 
quoted in this Dictionary ; the rest may be of another edition : 
in that case, the pages may not correspond with the notes in 
the Dictionary. 



* The present names of these institutions are used in this work. 



NOTICES. 



Adams, Hannah, a woman of rare literary merit and 
great worth. D. 1831, set. 76. History of New Eng- 
land, Dedham, 1799 (1, 3, 4, 9). 

Adams, J. Q., sixth President of the United States ; 
H. U. 1787. D. 1848, set. 81. Anniversary Plymouth 
Oration, Bost. 1802(1). Oration before the Massachu- 
setts Historical Society (a). 

Adams, Samuel, the celebrated revolutionary politi- 
cian, remarkable for his piety, patriotism, and Puritanism. 
H. U. 1740. Governor of Massachusetts, 1794 — 1796. 
D. 1803, set. 82. 

Adams, Zabdiel, a very respectable minister of Lu- 
nenburg. H. U. 1759. D. 1801, set. 61. Treatise on 
Church Government, Bost. 1773, maintaining veto power 
in ministers (1). 

^RiTJS, presbyter of Sebastia, flourished about A.D. 
385. He maintained that there should be but one order 
of the clergy, and was the leader of a sect essentially 
Congregational. 

AiNSWORTH, Henry, one of the exiles to Holland, 
and teacher of the church in Amsterdam, sustained by 
Robinson and Brewster. A great, learned, and good, but 
imperfect man. Arrow against Idolatry {h) ; Answer to 
Clyfton, Amst. 1613 (1) ; Answer to Paget {h); Contro- 
versy with Broughton {h) ; Answer to Smith, Amst. 



392 NOTICES, 

1609 (1) ; Communion of Saints, Lond. 1641 ; Reply to 
Johnson {h). 

Alasco, or a Lasco, John, a Polish nobleman. Ga- 
thered a church of Polish refugees in London in 1550. 
"Was in great esteem with Erasmus and Peter Martyr ; 
was banished by Mary ; returned on the accession of 
Elizabeth, but could not get his charter for an Indepen- 
dent church re-established. 

AiiiiEX, Willia:m, D.D., formerly President of Bow- 
doin College, now a resident of Northampton, Mass. 
American Biographical Dictionary, valuable; Bost. 1832 
(1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10). 

Allin, John, first minister of Dedham. A courteous 
man, full of Christian love, bold against error, a diligent 
student and good scholar. D. 1671, set. 71, having been 
twenty-four years at Dedham. Defence of Answer to 
Nine Positions (with T. Shepard), Lond. 1648 (1, 6). 

Alltn, John, a highly respectable pastor of Duxbury. 
Ordained 1788. Anniversary Plymouth Sermon, Bost. 
1802 (1, 10). 

Axes, William, D.D., educated at Cambridge, Eng- 
land ; exiled to Holland ; Professor of Divinity at the 
University of Franeker ; removed to Rotterdam, and was 
co-pastor with Hugh Peters. D. 1633, set. 57. Preface 
to Bradshaw's English Puritanism, Lond. 1660 (1); 
Fresh Suit against Human Ceremonies, Lond. 1633 (1, 
4, 6) ; Cases of Conscience, Lond. 1643 (3) ; Marrow of 
Sacred Divinity (translation), Lond. 1642 (3). 

Ames, William, jun., D.D., son of the famous Pro- 
fessor of Franeker, came to New England when a child, 
H. U. 1645. Settled co-pastor with his uncle in Wren- 
tham, England, 1648 ; afterwards ejected. A very holy 
and excellent man. D. 1689, set. 65, Legislative Power 
Christ's Prerogative, Lond. 1656 (1). 



NOTICES. 393 

Answer of the Diyines to His Majesty's Rea- 
sons WHY HE cannot AbOLISH THE EPISCOPAL 

GoTEHNMENT (Compiler, d). 

Answer of New England Elders to Nine Po- 
sitions, Lond. 1643, a very able work, usually ascribed 
to the pen of John Davenport, though some have attri- 
buted it to Eichard Mather (1, 6). 

Appleton, Nathaniel, D.D., a distinguished mini- 
ster of Cambridge, Mass. H. U. 1712 ; ordained, 1717. 
D. 1784, a?t. 90. Sermon at Ordination of Missionaries, 
Bost. 1753 (1). 

Backus, Isaac, ordained over Congregational Church, 
Middleborough, 1743; became a Baptist, 1756. D. 
1806, set. 82. An author of considerable merit. His- 
tory of New England, with special reference to Baptists, 
Bost. 1777 (1, 2, 3). 

Bacon, Leonard, D.D. Y. C. 1820 ; installed pas- 
tor. First Church, New Haven, 1825. A distinguished 
divine, excelling both in logical and forensic talents. 
Church Manual, New Haven, 1833 ; Historical Dis- 
courses, New Haven and New York, 1839 ; exceedingly 
valuable documents, from which much more valuable 
matter should have been extracted for this work, had 
they been seasonably possessed. 

Bagshawe, Edward, a respectable lawyer of the 
Middle Temple ; author of Arguments in Parliament 
against the Canons, for which he was obliged to retire 
into the country. He appears to advantage in Hanbury, 
ii. 140 — 147. Blake notices a minister of the same name, 
who was so violent, that he was imprisoned for his non- 
conformity in 1671. Query ^ Was it the same individual 1 

Baillie, Kobert, one of the Scotch commissioners 
in the Westminster Assembly ; a man of great talents. 
His letters to Spang, in Hanbury, however, show him not 



394 NOTICES. 

very tolerant in his religious views, invoking a Scots 
army, 15,000 strong, to enforce his arguments. Still he 
was, doubtless, a very amiable man. D. 1662. Author 
of a powerful treatise against the Erastians, entitled 
Aaron's Rod that Budded, &c. ; Dissuasive from the 
Errors of the Times, Lond. 1646 (Z>). 

Balch, William, pastor of Second Church, Bradford. 
H. U. 1724 ; ordained, 1728. Was disciplined with his 
church by a neighbor-church in 1743. Council censured 
the complainants. D. 1792, set. 87. Vindication of 
Second Church, Bradford, Bost. 1746 (1, 3). 

Ball, John, an English Nonconformist divine, yet 
greatly opposed to separation John Robinson had a 
controversy with him on some points, on which he held 
Robinson to be too great a Separatist. D. 1640, set. 55. 

Banceoft, Richard, D.D. Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, first broached the doctrine of the divine right of 
Episcopacy. A violent member of the High Commission 
Court, covetous and cruel. D. 1610, set. 66. 

" Here lies his Grace in cold clay clad, 
Who died for want of what he had." 

Barrington (Lord), Joh]^ Shute, a celebrated law- 
yer, a learned Puritan, and a peer of the realm. D. 
1734, set. 65. 

Barrow, Isaac, D.D., a learned Episcopal divine and 
mathematician. Held many professorships in the Univer- 
sity of Cambridge, and became Master of Trinity College. 
D. 1677, set. 47. Treatise on the Pope's Supremacy, in 
which he admits the independency of the primitive 
churches (A). 

Barrowe, Henry, usually styled a Brownist. Punch- 
ard asserts that he was not one. He was a lawyer of 
Gray's Inn; was hanged with Greenwood, in 1793, for 



NOTICES. 395 

" nonconformity to the rights and ceremonies of the Eng- 
lish Church." Brief Discovery of a False Church, 1590 
(h) ; Answer to Giffard, 1591 [h), 

Ba^rtlett, William, minister of the gospel at Wap- 
ping. Hanbury, in a note, iii. 236, says that he was 
formerly of the University of Oxford. This is all which, 
with considerable effort, I have been able to learn of 
him ; but his work is a sufficient biography : where that 
is known, his fair fame will not decay. Model of the 
Primitive Congregational Way, 1647 (&), (1, 9). 

Bastw^ic, John, M.D., a physician of Colchester. 
Excommunicated, fined £1,000, and imprisoned for wri- 
ting a book against the Roman Episcopate, which offended 
the English bishops, because it denied their divine right. 
On charge of writing other books in prison, he was pil- 
loried and lost his ears, in company with Prynne and 
Burton, in 1636. A violent Presbyterian. Treatise on 
Church Government, 1645 {h), 

Baxter, Richakd, a great and good man, whose cha- 
racter is too well known to require description, and too 
well established to need panegyric. He was a Noncon- 
formist, but agreed strictly with no sect of them concern- 
ing ecclesiastical polity. Ejected from Kidderminster ; 
retired to Coventry. Chaplain both to Cromwell and 
Charles II., but agreed with neither. Imprisoned repeat- 
edly, and last by Jeffries, for his Commentary. D. 1691, 
set. 76. 

Baylies, Fkancis, a gentleman of political note and 
literary merit. He has recently deceased. Has pub- 
lished a good History of New Plymouth Colony, Bost. 
1830 (2, 3, 9, 10). _ 

Baynes, Paul, educated at Christ's College, Cam- 
bridge, of which he became Fellow and Lecturer. Put 
down, at the instance of Bancroft, for not subscribing. 



896 NOTICES. 

A divine of uncommon learning, clear judgment, ready 
wit, and much communion with God and his own heart, 
but was rer'uced to great poverty and want. D. 1617. 
Diocesan's Trial, Lond. 1641 (1, 3). 

Bellarmine, Robert, a celebrated Jesuit of Italy, 
but did not adopt all the tenets of the Jesuits. His ad- 
missions and demonstrations are frequently quoted to 
sustain certain Congregational principles. D. 1621, 
set. 79. 

Bellamy, Joseph, D.D., minister of Bethlem, Conn. 
Y. C. 1735 ; ordained, 1740. Was one of the most able 
divines of the country. D. 1790, set. 71. "Works, New 
York, 1812 (1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10). 

Bentley, William, D.D.*, pastor of Second Church, 
Salem, Mass. H. U. 1777; ordained, 1783. D. 1819, 
set. 81. Donor of a collection of books to Meadville 
College, Penn., and another to the American Antiquarian 
Society. History of Salem (a). 

Bernard, Richard, rector of Batecome, in Somerset- 
shire. A conforming Puritan ; once well affected towards 
Separatists, but relapsed, and used much invective 
against them. Separatists' Schism about 1608, answered 
by Ainsworth and Robinson (Z>, c). 

Bradbury, Thomas, a facetious dissenting minister 
of Stepney, and Fetter Lane, near London. Some speak 
of his wit as consecrated to Christ, while others censure 
it in no measured terms. He had certainly unbounded 
popularity with his own people. D. 1757, set. 80. The 
Ass and the Serpent, Lond. 1712 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) ; Law- 
fulness of Resisting Tyrants, Lond. 1714 (1, 3, 4) ; 
Non-resistance without Priestcraft, Lond. 1715 (1, 3, 4). 

Bradford, Alden, H. U. 1786. Several years a 
clergyman of Wiscasset, Maine ; afterward Secretary of 
State of Massachusetts. D. 1843. Anniversary Ser- 



NOTICES. 397 

mon, Plymouth, Bost. 1805 (1, 4, 5, 8, 10) ; History of 
Massachusetts, Bost. 1822 (1, 2, 3, 9, 10). 

Bradfokd, WiiiLiAM, second Governor of Plymouth 
Colony, and one of the first settlers ; had only a com- 
mon school education ; was imprisoned at eighteen years 
of age for attempting to go over into Holland with the 
Puritans ; was among the most daring of the explorers 
for a place of settlement ; Governor, except five years, 
from 1621 till his death, 1657; set. 69. Dialogue in 
Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims. 

Bradshaw, William, educated at Emanuel College ; 
Fellow of Sidney College ; suspended from his ministry 
in Kent for non-subscription in 1601 ; Lecturer of 
Christ's Church, London, but obliged to leave the city 
on account of his Treatise on Worship and Ceremonies, 
Lond. 1660 (1). He also published English Puritan- 
ism, — clear, powerful, and very instructive, Lond. 1642 
(1). D. 1618, get. 47 

Brattle, Thomas, an eminent merchant of Boston. 
H. U. 1676. Treasurer of the College from 1693 to his 
death, 1713, set. 5'5, Letters in (a). 

Brewster, William, the first and a distinguished 
ruling elder of the church in Plymouth ; was educated 
at the University of Cambridge, England. He frequently 
preached, but would never consent to become pastor. D. 
1644, set. 44. 

Bridge, William, one of the Westminster Assembly; 
Fellow of Emanuel College ; minister in Essex and Nor- 
wich ; silenced by Bishop Wren ; was excommunicated, 
and became pastor of the English Church at Rotterdam ; 
returned in 1642, and became minister of Great Yar- 
mouth, whence he was ejected by the Bartholomew Act. 
D. 1670, set. 70. Wounded Conscience Cured, Lond. 
1642 (1, 2, 5); Sermon to Volunteers of Norwich and 
34 



398 NOTICES. 

Yarmouth, Lond. 1642 (1, 2, 5); Sermon before House 
of Commons, Lond. 1643 (1); Vindication of Ordinan- 
ces (4). 

Brooke, Robert, one of the English lords who sig- 
nally defended the Puritans ; afterward commander of 
the Parliament army; killed in storming a close, 1643. 
Treatise on Episcopacy {h, d), 

Broughton, Hugh, a learned but ill-tempered di- 
vine ; minister of the English Church at Middleburg. 
D. 1612, set. 63. Controversy with Ainsworth on Silk 
and Wool {h). 

Brown, Robert, leader of the sect of Brownists. An 
active, persevering, headstrong reformer ; advocated Con- 
gregational principles in the main, but was a rigid Sepa- 
ratist ; at last reverted back to the Episcopal Church. 
D. 1630, a rector of Northamptonshire ; in prison for the 
abuse of a magistrate ; set. 80, boasting that he had been 
an inmate of thirty- two prisons. 

Bucer, Martin, formerly a monk, afterward a cele- 
brated reformer ; twenty years Professor of Divinity at 
Strasburg ; came to England on invitation of Archbishop 
Cranmer, and was Professor at Cambridge : he would 
not wear a square cap because his head was not square. 
D. 1551, set. 60. Remarks on the Habits, and on Ec- 
clesiastical Discipline {d). His bones were dug up and 
burned in Mary's reign. 

Burroughs, Jeremiah, one of the Independents in 
the Westminster Assembly ; educated at Cambridge ; 
pastor at Rotterdam ; afterward preacher, at Stepney 
and Cripplegate, to two of the largest churches about 
London. D. 1646, set. 47. Glorious Name of the Lord 
of Hosts, Lond. 1643 (1); Answer to Feme, Lond. 1643; 
Irenicum (Z>). 

Burton, Henry, B.D., Clerk of the Closet to Prince 



NOTICES. 399 

Henry and Charles L ; imprisoned, fined, pilloried, and 
cropped, with Prynne and Bastwick, for his sermons 
against Episcopacy. He embraced the Independent 
views. D. 1848, set. 69. Answer to Prynne's Twelve 
Considerable Questions, Lond. 1644 (1, I). A Modest 
Answer to Prynne's Full Reply to Certain Observations 
on the Twelve Considerable Questions, Lond. 1645. 

Byles, Mather, D.D., H. U. 1725; ordained first 
pastor of HoUis-street Church, Boston, 1733. I). 1788, 
set. 82. 

Calef, Robert, a merchant of Boston ; author of one 
of the earliest treatises against the prevalent notions con- 
cerning witchcraft, about the beginning of the last centu- 
ry. More "Wonders of the Invisible World, Salem, 1796 

(1, 4). 

Callender, John, an eminent Baptist minister of 
Newport, R. I.; H. U. 1723. D. 1748, set. 41. Histo- 
rical Discourse concerning Rhode Island, Bost. 1739 (1, 
2, 3, 5, 9, 10). 

Cambridge Peatform, the Rules of Church Order 
and Discipline adopted by the Synod at Cambridge, 1648, 
as pointing the churches to the Scripture directions, which 
are the only authority acknowledged by Congregational- 
ists, Bost. 1808 (1, ei ah), 

Canne, John, a distinguished Brownistical Baptist ; 
pastor of the Brownist Church at Amsterdam ; author of 
valuable Notes on the Bible. 

Cartwright, Thomas, one of the chief of the Puri- 
tans ; Fellow of Trinity College ; one of the most learned 
and acute disputants of the age. D. 1603, set. 68. Re- 
ply to Whitgift (2, 4, 5, 6). 

Charles I,, King ; Answer to the Divines attending 
his Majesty's Parliament, concerning Abolishing Episco- 
pacy, Lond. 1648. (The Compiler, d,) 



400 NOTICES. 

Chauncy, Chakles, D.D., educated at Westminster 
and Cambridge ; minister of Ware ; prosecuted by Laud 
before the High Commission for preaching against the 
Book of Sports ; recanted, but repented his recantation, 
and came to New England in 1638; was sixteen years 
pastor of the church in Scituate, and seventeen years Pre- 
sident of Harvard College ; very learned and very indus- 
trious, — always rose at four o'clock. D. 1671, set. 82. 
Anti-synodalia (4, 5). 

Chauncy, Ch'aeles, D.D., great-grandson of the Pre- 
sident ; H. U. 1721 ; ordained colleague with Mr. Fox- 
croft of the First Church, Boston, 1727; figured in the 
Episcopal controversy about his Dudlean Lecture ; wrote 
and published much in favor of the doctrine of universal 
restoration ; received the first diploma from Edinburgh 
ever given to an American divine. D. 1787, set. 82. 
Dudlean Lecture, Bost. 1762 (1, 4, 5, 9). 

CHAUi^CY, Isaac, son of Pres. Charles; H. U. 1651 ; 
minister of a Dissenting church in London ; Dr. Watts 
became his colleague in 1698. Chalmers quotes Calamy : 
" He so tormented his hearers with declamations on 
church government that they left him." If they were 
episcopally inclined, they doubtless were "tormented" 
by his lucid demonstrations ; nor could they have been 
much relieved under the castigations of his successor. 
Divine Institution of Congregational Churches, Lond. 
1697 (1); Gospel Order, Lond. 1690 (1, 2). 

Chrysostom, JohjST, Bishop of Constantinople ; one 
of the most illustrious of the fathers ; attributed the 
power of electing and deposing pastors to the people. 
D. 407, set. 53. 

Clemens Romanus, a companion of Paul ; Bishop 
(i.e. pastor) of Home. D. 100. Epistle to the Corin- 
thians, Lond. 1647 (1, 2, 7). 



NOTICES. 401 

CiiEYELAKD, JoHN, minister of Ipswich ; Y. C. 1745; 
ordained, 1747. D. 1809, set. 79. Narrative of the 
Fourth Church, Ipswich, Bost. 1767 (1). 

Coleman, Benjamin, D.D. ; H. U. 1692; ordained 
in London for the new church in Brattle-street, 1699, 
which led Dr. Mather to call the church a " Presbyterian 
brat;" elected President of Harvard College, 1724. D. 
1747, set. 73. 

CoiiEMAN, Lyman; Y. C. 1817; ordained pastor of 
the Congregational Church, Belchertown, 1825. A dis- 
tinguished scholar. Primitive Church, Bost. 1844. 

Concord, Result op Council in 1743 (1). 

Congregationalism as contained in the Scrip- - 

TURES AND EXPLAINED BY THE PlATFORM, an anOUJ- 

mous pamphlet of considerable merit, Bost. 1794 (1, 4). 

Congregational Manual, the work of a sub-com- 
mittee of ministers, of which the venerable Dr. L. Woods 
was chairman. The committee was chosen at a meeting 
informally called in Boston, 1844 ; the sub-committee 
first sent an " Unfinished Report " to the several asso- 
ciations, where it was variously received. The Manual 
is the mature result of the labors of that sub-committee, 
published on their own responsibility in 1846. It seems 
to advocate juridical power in councils. 

Congregational Order, such a treatise as the name 
announces, by the General Association of Connecticut, 
Middletown, 1843. 

Congregational Union or England and Wales, 
such an association of Congregational ministers as its 
name imports, acting also as an efficient publishing board. 
Declaration of Faith ; Church Order and Discipline, 
Lond. 1833 {h). 

Contention op Congregational Ministers in 
Massachusetts ; an assembly, meeting annually on the 
34* 



402 NOTICES. 

last Wednesday in May. It is now conducted mainly as 
a charitable association for the relief of the indigent 
widows of deceased clergymen. Many attempts have 
been made to induce it to do ecclesiastical work ; but 
they have usually been failures. 

Cook, John, Cromwell's principal Secretary ; exe- 
cuted, 1660. What the Independents would Have, Lond. 
1647 {b) ; Monarchy no Creature of God, Waterford, 
1652 {h). 

CooPEK, Sa:muel5 D.D. ; H. U. 1743. Ordained suc- 
cessor of his father in Brattle-street, Boston, 1746; 
chosen President of Harvard College, 1774. Fellow of 
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and first 
Vice-President of the Society. D. 1783, aet. 58. 

Cooper, William, father of the preceding. H. U. 
1712 ; ordained colleague with Dr. Coleman, 1716. 
Chosen President of Harvard College, 1737, but declined. 
His hearers, instead of admiring and praising his ser- 
mons, went home silent as the grave. D. 1743, aet. 49. 

Corbet, Johx, an eminent divine, graduated at Mag- 
dalen College, 1639; rector of Bramshot in Hampshire, 
and ejected in 1662. Baxter preached his funeral ser- 
mon, and expressed a high opinion of his learning, piety, 
and humility. Had a considerable share in compiling 
the first volume of Bushworth's Historical Collections ; 
Principles and Practices of Several Nonconformists, 
Lond. 1682 (1). 

Cotton, Johx, Fellow of Trinity College, a great. lin- 
guist and scholar ; minister of Boston, England. Fled 
from the High Commission Court, and became teacher of 
the church in Boston, New England. His controversy 
with Roger Williams has been much misrepresented. 
Though his principles of toleration did not come up to 
our standard, yet he was very far in advance of his age. 



NOTICES. 403 

Because he was a very great man, his errors and incon- 
sistencies appear the more conspicuous. No man of any 
age ever swayed greater influence in Massachusetts, save 
during the Hutchinsonian Controversy. His waning 
then shows that our fathers were only influenced by his 
reasons, not controlled by his dictation. D. 1652, set. 
72. Bloody Tenet Washed, Lond. 1647 (1, 2, 3, 6); 
Reply to Williams, Lond. 1647 (1, 2, 5, 6); Keys of 
the Kingdom, Bost. 1843, Lond. 1644 (1, 2); Way 
of the Churches, Lond. 1645 (1) ; Way of the Churches 
Cleared, Lond. 1647 (1, 3, 5); Holiness of Church 
Members, Lond. 1650 (1, 2, 3, 5, 6). 

CuANMER, Thomas, D.D., Archbishop of Canterbury, 
a celebrated reformer. At first, superstitious and perse- 
cuting, but continually growing more tolerant and repub- 
lican. One of the martyrs of Mary's reign, 1555, set. 67. 

Creeds, Seasonable Thoughts on, a pamphlet con- 
taining very much sound and some false logic, attributed 
to Hon. John Lowell. It gives the Unitarian view of 
the subject. Bost. 1813 (1, 3, 5). 

Cromavell, Oliver (Protector), than whom no man 
has been more abused. To no individual does England 
owe so much for her freedom and her grandeur; yet, 
through the restrictions aqd corruptions of the press after 
his decease, he was " damned to everlasting fame ;" but, 
by the labors of Carlyle, Merle D'Aubigne, and others, 
he now rises to a glorious immortality. D. 1658, set. 59. 

Cyprian, Thascius Cjelius, one of the principal 
Fathers. Beheaded at Carthage, 258. 

Davenport, John, B.D., educated at Brazenose Col- 
lege, Oxford, Vicar of St. Stephen's, Coleman-street, 
London. Preached and visited constantly in London 
during the plague ; fled to Holland from the persecution 
of Laud ; had a controversy with the Dutch divines 



404 NOTICES. 

about baptizing the infants of those not professing expe- 
rimental religion ; came to Boston 1637, and sat with the 
Synod at Cambridge ; declined an invitation to be one 
of the Westminster Assembly ; principal founder of the 
colony of New Haven ; was threatened with royal ven- 
geance for concealing the regicides, preaching to the 
people from Isa. xvi. 3, 4; came to Boston in 1657, 
without a dismission from New Haven, being most deeply 
interested against the Half-way Covenant : this caused 
the organization of a new church. D. 1770, set. 73. 
Apologetical Reply (6) ; Power of Congregational 
Churches, Lond. 1672 (1, 3, 6) ; Boyal Edict for Military 
Exercises, Lond. 1629 (1). 

Declaration of Ecclesiastical Discipline, a 
^vork published anonymously (of necessity) in 1574. It 
is a powerful treatise, and was probably from the pen of 
Udall, though the histories do not give exactly this title 
to Udall' s work (6). 

Denison, Daniel, Maj.-Gen., a very influential inha- 
bitant of Ipswich. D. 1682. Irenicon, or Salve for 
New England's Sore (1). 

Dorchester, Votes of Church and Result of Council 
in, 1773 (1, 4) ; Remarks on Result of Council in, Bost. 
1774 (1, 5). 

Dunster, Henry, first President of Harvard College, 
from 1640 to 1654 ; resigned on account of his opposi- 
tion to infant-baptism. The ministers and magistrates 
were anxious for his continuance, if he could be persuaded 
not to propagate his peculiarity ; but he was too consci- 
entious to compromise. Revised the New England 
Version of the Psalms. D. 1657, in perfect harmony 
with, and bequeathing legacies to, those who removed 
him from the College. 

Dwight, Timothy, D.D., LL.D. ; Y. C. 1769. 



NOTICES. 405 

Taught Grammar School two years ; was tutor six years, 
farmer ^Ye years. Ordained at Greenfield, Conn., 1783. 
President of Yale College, 1795. D. 1817, set. 64. 
Works, in 4 and 5 vols. (9, 10). 

Eaton, Samuel, one of the first settlers of New Ha- 
ven, Conn., afterwards returned and was teacher of a 
church in Dukinfield, in Cheshire. D. 1665. Defence 
of Sundry Positions and Scriptures said to Justify the 
Congregational Way (with T. Taylor), Lond. 1645 (1, 3). 

EcKLEY, Joseph, D.D. ; N. H. 1772. Ordained 
minister of the Old South Church, Boston, lr719. A 
Semi-arian, but held all the other points of the Orthodox 
faith. D. 1811, set. 60. Artillery Election Sermon, 
Bost. 1792 (1, 10) ; Dudlean Lecture, Bost. 1806 (1). 

Edwards, Jonathan ; Y. C. 1720. Ordained, 
Northampton, 1727 ; dismissed, 1750. President of 
Princeton College, N. J., 1758, and died a few months 
afterwards, set. 54. Probably the first of American di- 
vines. Treatise on Full Communion, Bost. 1749 (1, 4, 
5, 9, 10). 

Eliot, John, D.D. ; H. U. 1772. Ordained pastor 
of New North Church, Boston, 1779. Contributed much 
to the historical learning of our country. D. 1813, set. 
58. Biographical Dictionary (1, 2, 3, 7, 10). 

Emerson, William ; H. U. 1787. Ordained pastor 
of Church in Harvard, 1792. Installed, First Church, 
Boston, 1799. D. 1811, set. 42. Piety and Arms, Ar- 
tillery Election Sermon, Bost. 1799 (1). 

Emmons, Nathaniel, D.D. ; Y. C. 1767. Ordained, 
1773, pastor of Church in Franklin (then the Second 
Church in Wrentham). D. 1840, set. 95. Thus he was 
sixty-three years in the pastoral ofiice, and has a name as 
a writer and a theologian that will never perish. Works, 
in 7 vols. Bost. 1842. 



406 NOTICES. 

Endicot, John, sixteen years Governor of Massachu- 
setts. Came to Salem in 1628, and is styled Governor 
of Naumkeake settlement. He was ardent, and some- 
times violent : cut the cross out of the king's colors, after 
Williams had preached against that symbol. D. 1665, 
set. 75. 

EuE-iNG, William. Hanbury says that we know no 
more of him than he tells us in the preface to his work, 
viz. that he was not brought up among the muses, but 
the mariners. Robinson speaks of his assistance with 
respect, in Han. i. 53, Answer to Drake's Ten Counter 
Demands, 1619 (&). 

ExjsEBius, Pamphilius, styled the Father of Eccle- 
siastical History. D. 340. Ecclesiastical History. 

Felt, Joseph B., formerly pastor of Congregational 
Church in Sharon and in Hamilton; now a learned and 
laborious antiquarian ; Librarian of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society. Annals of Salem, Salem, 1827 (1, 3, 
4, 5, 8). 

Feune, Henry, D.D., Bishop of Chester, son of Sir 
John, Fellow of Trinity College. D. 1661, ^t. 59. Re- 
solving of Conscience ; Conscience Satisfied (Z>) ; Tract 
against the Lawfulness of Subjects to take up Arms in 
any case whatever, triumphantly answered by William 
Bridge (1) and Jer. Burroughs (1). 

Fish, Elisha, minister of Upton, Mass. H. U. 1750* 
ordained, 1751. D. 1795. An acute reasoner and firm 
patriot. Art of War Useful and Necessary, Bost. 1774 

FiTCHBunG, Facts ais^d Documents concerning 
AN Ecclesiastical Controversy in ; doubtless from 
the pen of Dr. Samuel Worcester, Bost. 1802 (1)-; Com- 
ments on the same, Wor. 1804 (1). 

FoxcBorT, Thomas^ H. U. 1714. Ordained colleague 



NOTICES. 407 

with Mr. Wadsworth, 1717. Dr. Chauncy was settled 
as his colleague, 1727. Polite, eloquent, and universally 
admired; a very devout and edifying preacher; author 
of numerous valuable treatises. D. 1769, set. 72. Ser- 
mon at his own Ordination, Bost. 1718 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 
10); Sermon Preparatory to the Choice of a Minister, 
Bost. 1727 (1, 10); Century Sermon on the Beginning 
of New England, Bost. 1730 (1, 4, 5, 6, 7); Sermon at 
Ordination of a Deacon, Bost. 1731 (1, 2, 3, 5, 6). 

Fkankfort, Troubles in, 1575 (6). 

Fuller, Andrew, an eminent English Baptist divine; 
a very lucid, powerful, and valuable writer. D. 1815, 
set. 61. Works, Bost. 1833 (2, 7, 9, 10). 

Fuller, Samuel, a physician of Plymouth, and one 
of the first settlers ; deacon in the church with Gov. Car- 
ver. Successfully showed Governors Endicot and Brad- 
ford, and the churches of Plymouth and Salem, that they 
were agreed on the subject of church government and 
discipline ; whereas, from the misrepresentations, each 
had been jealous of the other. 

Fuller, Thomas, D.D., an eminent English historian 
and divine. D. 1661, set. 55, Church History of Bri- 
tain, 1656. 

Geneyan Disputations. Theses on various Points 
of Doctrine and Discipline Disputed and Maintained by 
Select Scholars at Geneva, before Beza and Faius (trans- 
lation), Edinb. 1591 (Compiler). 

Gii^FARD, George, a conforming Puritan of the six- 
teenth century, minister of Maiden : figured largely in 
the controversy with Greenwood and Barrowe (5). 

Goodwin, Thomas, D.D., educated at Catherine Hall, 
Cambridge; left in 1639, being dissatisfied with confor- 
mity, and went to Holland ; returned at the sitting of 
the Long Parliament, and was the master-spirit among 



408 K T I E s. 

the Independents in the Westminster Assembly ; Presi- 
dent of Magdalen College, which he left at the Restora- 
tion; and preached in London till his death, 1679-80, 
aet. 79. His "Works are published in five large folios ; 
half of vol. iv. is on Church Government, Lond. 1697 
(2, 9). 

Gospel Order Revited ; an anonymous publication 
in answer to Increase Mather's Gospel Order. It is 
levelled chiefly against requiring experimental religion 
in candidates for church membership ; probably from 
the pen of Mr. Stoddard, of Northampton. Bost. 1700 
(1,5). 

Geeexhill, Wielia:m, a distinguished member of 
the Westminster and the Savoy Assemblies. He acted 
in concert with the Independents. 

Greexwood, Johx, a university scholar ; ^ took his 
first degree, 1580; hanged at Tyburn, 1593, for "non- 
conformity to the rights and ceremonies of the English 
Church.*' A godly, devoted minister of Christ. Refu- 
tation of Giffard (3, c). 

Hall, Edwin, D.D., pastor of the Congregational 
Church, Xorwalk, Conn. Puritans and their Principles, 
N.Y., 1846, a work of unusual worth. 

Hale, Joseph, a learned Bishop of Norwich. D. 
1656, set. 82. John Robinson had a controversy with 
him on Church Government (Z>, c). 

Haee, Robert, a very eminent Open-communion 
Baptist. His writings and his spirit are universally ad- 
mired, even by those who do not adopt them ; educated 
at Aberdeen; ordained 1780; declined the title D.D. 
D. 1831, aet; 67. Works, in 3 vols. 8vo (9, 10). 

Hampshire Narratite, a controversial work con- 
ceming the ordination of Mr. Brack at Springfield, Bost. 
1736 (1); Answer to the same, attributed to the pen of 



NOTICES. 409 

Dr. Cooper, of Boston, 1736 (1, 4); Rejoinder, Bost. 
1737(1). 

Hat^bury, Benjamin, deacon of the First Congrega- 
tional Church, London. Historical Memorials, Lond. 
1839, for the Congregational Union of England and 
Wales ; — an invaluable digest of the works of the old 
Puritans, in 3 vols. 8vo, compiled with great care, but 
wants distinctness of typographical arrangement (9). 

Harris, Thaddeus Mason, D.D., a distinguished 
and very learned Unitarian minister, of Dorchester, 
Mass.; H. U. 1787. D. 1842, get. 74. Sermon on 
Covenant Engagements, Bost. 1801 (1, 5). 

Hart, William, minister of Saybrook, Conn. ; Y. C. 
1732. D. 1784. Remarks on Mr. Dana's Ordination, 
New Haven, 1759 (1, 4, 5). 

Haven, Samuel, Hon., son and grandson of ministers 
of Dedham ; Judge of County Court ; a professed Swe- 
denborgian. Proceedings of the First Church and Parish 
of Dedham, Cambridge, 1819 (1, 2). 

Hav^es, Joel, D.D., minister, Hartford, Conn. ; B. U. 
1813 ; was soon ordained at Hartford, where he remains, 
one of the distinguished ministers of the country. Tri- 
bute to the Pilgrims, Hart. 1830 (2). 

Heads of Agreement between Congregational and 
Presbyterian Ministers in London, A. D. 1690; — a 
kind of confession of faith, embodying the general points 
on which the denominations are agreed. They were 
adopted by the Saybrook Convention as a part of their 
Platform. They may be seen in Congregational Order, 
Upham's Ratio Disciplinse, et al. 

Hemmenway, Moses, D.D., minister of Wells, Me. ; 
H. U. 1755; ordained, 1759. D. 1811, set. 84 ; -- a 
learned theologian. Controversy with Dr. Emmons on 
the Sacraments, Bost. 1794 (1). 
35 



410 NOTICES. 

Heney, Matthew, a learned dirine and noted com- 
mentator. D. 1714, aet. 52. Defence of Lis Enquiry 
into the Nature of Schism, -Lond. 1692 '1). 

HiGGixsox, Francis, first minister of Salem; edu- 
cated at Emanuel College in Cambridge ; became minis- 
ter of Leicester ; fled from the High Commission Court, 
and came to New England, 1629. D. 1630 ; — a truly 
great, learned, and good man. Confession of Faith for 
the Church in Salem (o). 

HiGGiNSOX, JoHX, son of the preceding ; was assist- 
ant preacher some fifteen years at Guilford, Conn., and 
ordained at Salem by lay brethren [rs his father had been 
before him), 1660 ; one of the most popular and influen- 
tial preachers in the country. D. 1708, aet. 93. Attes- 
tation (with William Hubbard), in Appendix to Cam- 
bridge Platform. 

High Church Politics, a work setting forth some 
of the glaring pretensions of high churchmen, Lond. 
1792 (3, 1, 7). 

Historical Society of Massachusetts, instituted 
1791 ; has accomplished much for the advancement of 
historical knowledge ; has published three series of ten 
volumes each, consisting of rare treatises, chiefly on the 
early history of New England. The Society has a fine 
library over the Savings' Bank, Boston. 

Holmes, Abiel, D.D., LL.D. ; Y. C. 1783 ; ordained 
at Midway, Georgia, 1785; installed at Cambridge, 
Mass., 1792: dismissed, 1832. D. 1837, aet. 74. Was 
son-in-law of President Stiles. One of the very best of 
historians, and a great patron of historical learning. 
Dudlean Lecture, Camb. 1810 (1); Anniversary Ply- 
mouth Sermon, Camb. 1806; Second Century Sermon, 
Camb. 1821 (1, 3, 4); American Annals, Camb. 1805 
and 1829 (1, 3, 4. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10). 



NOTICES. 411 

Holt, John (Lord Chief Justice), first a lawyer of 
Gray's Inn ; a great and upright judge, D. 1709, set. 67. 

HooKE, William ; Oxford, 1620 ; Vicar of Axmouth, 
in Devonshire ; fled for nonconformity, and was first 
pastor of Taunton ; afterward colleague with J. Daven- 
port, in New Haven. Returned to England, and was 
chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, his near kinsman. His 
wife was sister to Judge Whalley. D. 1678, set. 77. 

Hooker, Richard (called "The Judicious"), edu- 
cated at Corpus Christi, Oxford, where he was a Fellow ; 
took orders, 1581 ; Lecturer of the Temple, 1584, where 
he came in uncomfortable contact with Travers ; became 
rector of Kent, 1595. D. 1600, set. 46. Ecclesiastical 
Polity, — a work in high repute with Episcopalians. 

Hooker, Thomas, educated at Emanuel College, Cam- 
bridge ; Lecturer at Chelmsford, 1626 ; silenced for non- 
conformity, 1630; fled to Holland, and was assistant to 
Dr. Ames ; came to New England, and had lay ordina- 
tion at Cambridge, 1633; removed to Hartford, 1636; 
the most influential man in the colony of Connecticut. 
D. 1647, set. 61. Survey of Church Discipline, Lond. 
1648.*^'' His corrected copy was lost at sea, and his first 
draft was sent over and published after his death. This 
work, with many blemishes, shows great research, and 
probably the corrected copy was an unequalled produc- 
tion (1, 5, 6, 9, 10). 

Hopkins, Samuel, D.D., an eminent theologian from 
whom the Hopkinsians derive their name; Y. C. 1741 ; 
ordained, Great Earrington, 1743 ; installed at Newport, 

* On page 121, note, it is stated that some authors ascribe the fourth 
part of this work to J. Cotton. At the suggestion of Rev. E. Hooker, 
D.D., I have examined the subject so as to be fully convinced that the 
whole work is Hooker's. See Dr. Hooker's Life of T. Hooker, pages 
280, 281. 



412 NOTICES. 

E.I. 1770. D. 1803, set. 82. System of Divinity, 2 
vols. Bost. 1811. 

Howe, John, educated at Cambridge ; Cromwell's 
domestic chaplain, and minister at Torrington and Sil- 
ver-street, London ; was silenced by the act of uniform- 
ity. D. 1705, 8et. 74. He possessed talents of the 
highest order, with unfeigned and exalted piety. Dr. 
Emmons styled him the very best English divine. His 
writings most felicitously combine wit and dignity. 
Works, N. Y. 1835. 

HuBEAUD, William; H. U. 1642, in the first class; 
an eminent preacher of Ipswich. He was for more strin- 
gency of the civil law in enforcing religion than most of 
his brethren. D. 1704, set. 83. History of Massachu- 
setts (belonging to all the town- libraries in the State) : 
it borrows very largely from the third volume of Win- 
throp's manuscripts, without giving credit, for which he 
has been much censured, probably without good reason, 
as the work was not published till after his death. It is 
unfair to blame the author for what his survivors did not 
do. Attestation (with John Higginson), in Cambridge 
Platform. 

Hume, Dayid, a celebrated English writer of great 
power. He was an atheist and sceptic, but sustained an 
unblemished personal character. D. 1776, eet. 65. His- 
tory of England. 

HuTCHiisrsoisr, Thomas, LL.D. ; Governor of the 
Province of Massachusetts from 1771 to 1774; H. U. 
1727. In early life was a popular magistrate, but by his 
Tory preferences became very obnoxious as the crisis of 
the Revolution approached. D. 1780, set. 69. History 
of Massachusetts, Salem, 1795 (1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10); Mas- 
sachusetts Collection of State Papers, Bost. 1769 (1, 2, 
3) : both are valuable productions. 



NOTICES. 413 

Independents in the Westminster Assembly : 
Thomas Goodwin, Philip Nye, William Bridge, Jeremiah 
Burroughs, and Sidrach Simpson ; and, usually, William 
Greenhill and William Carter acted hand in hand in favor 
of Independency in that assembly. To these, Baillie 
adds Caryl, Phillips, and Sterry. To their efforts, small 
minority as they were, we are, under God, indebted for 
much of the ecclesiastical liberty which we now enjoy. 
A Scots army, fifteen thousand strong, was invoked to 
make the arguments of their opposers respected. Seve- 
ral of their very valuable papers are quoted in this work, 
from Hanbury, Punchard, and Neal. 

Jacob, Henky, an eminent early Nonconformist di- 
vine ; educated at Oxford. D. 1621, set. 60. At first 
he wTote against the Separatists, but at length embraced 
Semi-separatist principles, and wrote with great power in 
their defence ; was a companion of Bobinson in Holland ; 
became pastor of the First Congregational- Church, Eng- 
land. D. 1621, set. 60. Defence of Church and Minis- 
ters of England, Middleburg, 1599 {b) ; Divine Begin- 
ning of Christ's Visible Churches, 1610 (Z>) ; Reasons for 
Reforming our Churches in England, 1604 (Z>) ; Humble 
Supplication for Toleration, 1609 {h) ; Attestation of 
Godly Divines, that Church Government should be by 
the People's Consent, 1613 {h, 1); Church Confession, 
1616, prefaced " Vide et fide, fide sed vide'' {h). 

Jewell, John, Bishop of Salisbury, educated at 
Christ's Church College, Oxford. He held to absolute 
obedience to the sovereign, and so adopted the habits, 
though against his own convictions of right, and bore 
hard on the consciences of those who would not comply. 
D. 1571, set. 49. Apology for the Church of England 
{h, d), 

Johnson, Francis, a Brownist preacher in Holland ; 
35* 



414 NOTICES. 

once associated with H. Ainswortli ; held the absolute 
rule of the elders {h, d). 

Junius, Francis, Divinity Reader in Leyden and 
Middleburg. Had some controversy with the exiled Pu- 
ritans, though Ainsworth says (Hanbury, i. 172), that he 
neither approved the English Church, nor condemned 
the Separatists' practice. D. 1602, set. 57. Letters to 
the English Church at Amsterdam, 1602. 

King, Peteh (Lord Chancellor), a writer of great 
ability and candor. D. 1734, set. 65. Enquiry into the 
Discipline, &c. of the Primitive Church, by an Impartial* 
Witness, Lond. 1719 (1, 9). 

Kippis, Andkevt, D.D., F.R.S., educated under Dr, 
Doddridge, minister at Boston, Dorking, and Westmins- 
ter ; editor of Biographia Britannica. An eminent scholar. 
D. 1795, set. 70. Vindication of Dissenting Ministers, 
1773 (3). 

Knowees, J-ames D., late Professor of the Theologi- 
cal Seminary at Newton. Columbia College, 1824. D. 
1838, set. 40. Life of Roger Williams, Bost. 1734; 
valuable, and generally candid, but sometimes given to 
special pleading (1, 2, 4, 8, 9). 

Latimer, Hugh, Bishop of Worcester, was a great 
reformer ; derided the habits, and so became an early 
object of the vengeance of the Conformists to all things, 
in Queen Mary's reign. Burnt 1555, set. 85. 

Laud, William, Archbishop of Canterbury, the great 
persecuting prelate. Himself proved the truth of the 
assertion, " They that take the sword shall perish by the 
sword." Beheaded 1645, set. 72. 

Letchford, Thomas, a lawyer from London. Lived 
in Boston, New England, from 1638 to 1640. He was 
disgusted with the requirement of experimental piety for 
church membership. Wrote Plain Dealing (a), in which 



NOTICES. 415 

he gives a very candid and fair account of the ecclesiasti- 
cal usages of New England. 

LiLBUENE, John, an enthusiastic Nonconformist. 
Styled the most sincere and most imprudent of men. 
Was often in prison ; yet, by his boldness and energy, 
he accomplished considerable for the cause of liberty. 
D. 1657, let. 49. Answer to a Gentleman, 1639 {h). 

LoBB, Stephen. I am unable either to learn much 
of this gentleman from those biographical works to which 
I have access, or to recall what I have somewhere read 
in his praise. Happily, there is little need of it, as his 
works praise him, and commend themselves to reflecting 
minds. True Dissenter, 1685 (1). He was a volumi- 
nous writer. 

Locke, John, the well-known philosopher. He re- 
fused political preferments for the quiet of the study, in 
which he greatly enlightened and benefited mankind. 
D. 1704, set. 72. Letters on Toleration, Lond. 1695 
(3, 1, 2, 8, 9). 

Low Country Exiles. The Nonconformists, who, 
in the latter part of the sixteenth century, went over to 
Holland, after banishment had been decreed against 
them, and the prisons were thrown open, where such 
multitudes of them had suffered, and so many perished. 
Johnson, Ainsworth, and Robinson were among the 
leaders of these exiles. Confession, Amst. 1598 (1, h), 

Macaulay, Thomas Babbington, the celebrated liv- 
ing English historian. History of England, Bost. 1849. 

Maccarty, Thaddeus. H. U. 1739; ordained pas- 
tor of the First Church in Worcester, 1747. D. 1784. 

Martyr, Peter, a distinguished Florentine commen- 
tator on the Bible. D. 1562, set. 62. 

Mather, Cotton, D.D., F.R.S., son of Dr. Increase 
Mather; H. U. 1678. Ordained colleague with his 



416 



XOTICE& 



^tker, 1634. D. 1728, aet. 66. He was one of Ifce 

r: :>iintij. His 

r : -is pnblica- 

: st or quite unpa: :'.'.-'. t II rd eTery 

.'a ofken ~ r :I:i- 



Xo s: 



: I- ince to bias ti : 

- :- Company, Bost. 168J ^l, 4, 5;; 

2 ! 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10); Ser- 

_ ~ 3 Jnst War, &a, Bost. 

o : : : Bost. 1726 (1, 3, 4, 



:i-.iHZ-. Z-:-ZL 


E, D.D., 


President of Harrard Uni- 


versity. s : 


. H. 


U. 


1656; ordained pastor 


of North 






Chosen President, 


1681, bn: ^ 






part with him; re- 


chosen, 1684, after 






r resident Rogers- He 


exerted an aU-controlLLug 




: a in church and 


commonwealth. D 


T ^-^ ," 




^- Principles of 


New England con : 


_ - 




5T5ri. 3. 4, 








'w : - 



Prayer Worship, ^x . . . 

Gospel practised in the Xe 7 
Z - 1700 (1,3,5); 
: I-' -IS, Bost. !" 
: . ^ Z : ^ r siastical 1 
at Ordination of Mr. A Z t - : 
against Encouraging :I 
Table of the Lord, Bo. 
oonceming Witchcraft (1, 6] . 



^:. 1718; Disserta:i::i 

..izi to Approach :Ze 

I ises of Conadence 



NOTICES. 41T 

brotlier of President Increase Mather; H. U. 1647. 
Settled in Barnstable, England; ejected in 1662, went 
to Holland, and was minister at Rotterdam ; succeeded 
his brother Samuel at Dublin ; afterward removed to 
London, and was pastor of a Congregational church 
there, where he died, 1697, set. 67. Lawfulness of a 
Pastor's Administering Seals in another Church, Bost. 
1730 (1, 6). 

Mather, Richaud, the progenitor of the whole race 
in America. Educated at Oxford. Suspended for Non- 
conformity in 1633, restored, and again suspended. 
Came to New England, 1635 ; ordained pastor of the 
church in Dorchester, 1636. He was a distinguished 
ornament of the churches. Cambridge Platform was 
chiefly from his pen. Church Government and Church 
Covenant Discussed in Answer to Thirty-two Questions, 
Lond. 1643 (1,6); Apology of the New England Elders 
for Church Government, Lond. 1643 (1); Answer to 
Herle, Lond. 1644 (1, 3, 5). 

Mathee, Samuel, D.D., son of Cotton; H. U. 1723. 
Ordained over the same church to which his father and 
grandfather had ministered, 1732, as colleague with Mr. 
Gee. He has been less praised than some of his ances- 
tors, and in many respects needed less. He was less 
dazzling, but usually more careful to be correct, than 
any of them, save Richard the patriarch. Apology for 
the Liberties of the New England Churches, Bost. 1738 
(2, 3, 4, 5, 9). 

Mauduit, Israel, some time an English dissenter ; 
afterwards a successful merchant and writer of political 
pamphlets. Even Chalmers admits that he was a tempe- 
rate advocate for civil and religious liberty. D. 1787, 
set. 79. Case of Dissenting Ministers, a work of con- 
siderable merit, Lond. 1772, and Bost. 1773 (3, 1, 2). 



418 NOTICES. 

Mayhew, Jonathan, D.D. ; H. U. 1744. Ordained, 
1747, pastor of the West Church, Boston. A powerful 
preacher and acute reasoner. D. 1766, set. 45. Thirti- 
eth of January Sermon, 1750 (cZ, 1). . 

Milton, John, the poet and politician ; Latin Secre- 
tary to Cromwell. Educated at Christ's College, Cam- 
bridge. D. 1674, set. 66. Treatise against Prelacy (in 
Works, i. 2, 1, 9); Christian Doctrine, Bost. 1825 
(2, 9) ; Eikonoklastes, Amst. 1690 (1, 2, 9). 

MiNOT, George H. ; H. U. 1778. First clerk of 
Massachusetts House of Representatives under the Con- 
stitution, and clerk of the Convention which adopted the 
Constitution of the United States. D. 1802, set. 43. 
Continuation of History of Massacliiisetts, 1798 — 1803 
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9). 

Mitchell, John, formerly a pastor in Connecticut; 
afterwards in Northampton, Mass. Church Member's 
Guide, Northampton, 1838; a work of considerable re- 
search and merit, yet not always correct, particularly on 
the church membership of ministers. Leans to Conso- 
ciationism, but is honest and candid. 

Mitchell, Jonathan, a distinguished minister of 
Cambridge, Mass.; H. U. 1647; ordained, 1650. The 
Result of the Synod of 1662 was chiefly from his pen. 
D. 1668. He overcame Increase Mather in the Half-way 
Covenant Controversy. 

Moody, Joshua, H. U. 1653 ; minister of Portsmouth, 
N.H., 1660. Imprisoned by George Cranfield, for not 
administering the Lord's Supper in the way of the 
Church of England. Preached to First Church, Boston, 
from 1684 to 1693. Harbored and succored those ac- 
cused of witchcraft, at his own peril. Was chosen Pre- 
sident of Haivard University, but declined. D. 1697, 
aet. 65, 



NOTICES. 419 

Moody, Samuel, the powerful, pious, and eccentric 
minister of York, Me.; H. U. 1697. D. 1747, set. 70. 
Remarkable stories are told of almost miraculous inter- 
positions for his temporal sustenance. 

MoKNAY, Philip, an illustrious Protestant French 
nobleman. D. 1623, set. 72. Mystery of Iniquity, 
Lond. 1612 (1) ; Treatise on the Church {h). 

More, Stephen, pastor of the church in Deadman's 
Place, London. His congregation were most of them ap- 
prehended and sent to prison ; but the House of Lords 
interposed, and Mr. More was afterwards promoted. 
Sermon before Parliament (&, d) ; Preacher Sent {h) ; 
Wise Gospel Preacher (Z>). 

MoETON, Nathaniel, one of the first planters of 
New Plymouth. A correct and valuable author. New 
England Memorial, Post. 1826 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9). 

MounT, George, supposed to be one of the merchant 
adventurers to New England. Relation of Beginning 
and Proceedings of the English Plantation at Plymouth, 
in New England (a). 

Neal, Daniel, pastor of an Independent Church, 
London. D. 1743, set. 65. History of New England, 
Lond, 1747 (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9) ; History of the Puritans, 
New York, 1844. The latter work is an invaluable pro- 
duction, probably the best on the subject (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 
8, 9, 10). 

Neander, Augustus, D.D., a celebrated German 
scholar, recently deceased. Planting and Training the 
Christian Church, Philad. 1844; Ecclesiastical History, 
Bost. 1847. 

Newman, Samuel, pastor of the church in Seekonk 
(formerly Rehoboth), Mass. He had been obliged to flee 
seven times in England, to avoid persecution. Author 
of the Cambridge Concordance. D. 1663, set. 62. 



420 NOTICES. 

Nonconforming Ministers, Letter of, Lond. 1702 

(1). 

NoNCONPORMiTT, HisTORY OF, Lond. 1701. A 
some what valuable anonymous work (3). 

NoRRis, Edward, teacher of the church in Salem, 
with Hugh Peters as pastor; afterwards had the sole 
charge eighteen years; ordained, 1640. D. 1659. 

Norton, John, educated at Cambridge, England ; 
pastor of the church in Ipswich, and removed to Boston 
(with some difficulty) by advice of council. Persuaded 
Boston Church to send delegates to the Synod of 1647. 
He was famous as a divine, but met with the usual 
changes as a politician. D. 1663, set. 57. Answer to 
Apollonius, Lond. 1648 (1); Catechism. 

NowELL, Increase, one of the first magistrates of 
the Massachusetts Colony, and a ruling elder of the 
church in Charlestown, till it was decided that it was in- 
consistent for the same person to hold both offices, when 
he resigned the eldership. 

Nye, Philip, one of the Westminster Assembly ; 
educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and was curate 
of St. Michael's. Fled from Laud's persecution ; was 
principal manager of the meeting of ministers at Savoy. 
Blake has spoken disparingly of him, following the 
author of Hudibras ; but Neal gives him a good charac- 
ter. Doubtless he was an eyesore to high churchmen; 
but he certainly had the confidence of contemporaneous 
dissenters. Lawfulness of Oath of Supremacy, &;c., 
Lond. 1683 (1). D. 1672, eet. 76. 

Oakes, Urian ; H. U. 1649; pastor of church at 
Cambridge, 1671 ; President of Harvard University, 
1675. D. 1681, set. 49. A distinguished scholar. 

Origen, a distinguished father in the church. D. 254. 
set. about 70. Some of his writings savor of Universalism 



NOTICES. 421 

Osgood, Dayid, D.D. ; H. U. 1771 ; ordained at 
Medford, 1774. D. 1822, set. 74. One of the most dis- 
tinguished preachers of Massachusetts. Dudlean Lec- 
ture, Camb. 1802 (1, 3, 4, 7). 

Owen, John, D.D., educated at Queen's College, Ox- 
ford, and left as a Nonconformist. Became Cromwell's 
chaplain, and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford. One of the 
most learned of the Independent divines. D. 1683, set. 
69. Works, in 22 vols. Lond. 1826 (2, 10), containing, 
in vol. xix.. Duty of Pastor and People, Nature of 
Schism, Catechism, Vindication of Independents in 
Answer to Stillingfieet ; and vol. xx.. Original of Church- 
es, Answer to Stillingfleet's Unreasonableness of Separa- 
tion, and True Nature of a Gospel Church. 

Paget, John, a semi-conforming Puritan of consider- 
able ability. Wrote Arrow against the Separation of 
the Brownists, Amst. 1618 {b). This was stoutly op- 
posed by H. Ainsworth and J. Davenport. 

Parous, Dayid, D.D., a famous professor at Heidel- 
burg. Author of various Expositions of Parts of the 
Bible. D. 1622, ^t. 74. 

Pakker, Robert, a Wiltshire divine, educated at 
Cambridge, England ; father of Thomas Parker, first 
minister of Newbury, Mass. Fled to Holland, and be- 
came chaplain of the garrison at Doesburg, where he 
died, 1630. Increase Mather styles him the Incompara- 
ble Parker. Against Symbolizing with Antichrist, &c., 
Lond. 1607 (1, 6); Ecclesiastical Polity (6). 

Pemberton, Ebenezer, pastor of Old South Church, 
Boston. A distinguished divine. D. 1717. Sermon at 
Ordination of Mr. Sewall, Bost. 1718 (1). 

Penry, John, one of the martyrs for Congregational- 
ism, styled the Apostle of Wales, being the first that 
preached the Gospel to the Welsh; Oxford, 1586. 
36 



422 NOTICES. 

Wrongfully suspected of being the author of the Mar- 
Prelate Pamphlets. Apprehended as an enemy to the 
State, and hanged 1593. 

Petees, Hugh, educated at Trinity College, Cam- 
bridge, where he spent nine years. The early companion 
of Hooker and Davenport; was colleague with William 
Ames in Rotterdam; came to Salem, Mass., 1635, and 
succeeded Roger Williams ; assisted Vane, Winthrop, 
Cotton, and Shepard, in framing the Fundamentals of 
Massachusetts ; was .sent on important business to Lon- 
don by the General Court of Massachusetts. Here he 
figured greatly in the Revolution as a divine, a politician, 
and even a military commander. After the Restoration, 
he was hanged and quartered with savage cruelty, on ac- 
cusation of having compassed the king's death, 1660, set. 
61. No man has been more, or more unjustly, calum- 
niated. See Mr. Felt's Memoirs of his Life. 

Pierce, James, an eminent Presbyterian divine of 
Exeter; an Arian. D. 1730. Vindication of Dissent- 
ers, Lond. 1718 (2, 3, 9). 

PoLHiLL, Edward, Esq., a learned gentleman of Ber- 
wash, in Sussex, in constant communion with the Church 
of England, zealously concerned for truth, and not for 
party. Discourse on Schism, Lond. 1694 (1, 4). 

PoLYCARP, Bishop of Smyrna, one of the eminent 
Fathers. Burnt, 167. 

Pond, Enoch, D.D. ; B. U. 1813. Minister of 
Ward (now Auburn), Mass. ; a distinguished professor 
of Bangor Theological Seminary. The Church, New 
York, 1837 ; The Mather Family, Bost. (Mass. S. School 
Soc), 1844. 

Price, Richard, LL.D., pastor at Newington Green 
and Hackney. A great philosopher and an Arian divine. 
D. 1791, set. 67. 



NOTICES. 428 

Prince, Thomas; H. U. 1707. Travelled exte^- 
sively. Ordained pastor of Old South Church, Boston, 
1718. D. 1758, set. 71. Was one of the most learned 
and useful men of his age. He founded the New Eng- 
land Library, the portions of which that escaped the Van- 
dalism of the British soldiery are still an invaluable 
treasure. Chronology, Bost. 1736 (1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10). 
This work shows almost unbounded research, and the 
most scrupulous accuracy ; yet he could not procure sub- 
scribers for a second volume, and only a small portion of 
it was ever published. Callender said at the time, that 
it was " an honour to the country, though he wished for 
his sake that he had taken less pains to serve an ungrate- 
ful age. . . . Sooner or later, the country will see the 
advantage of his work, and their obligation to him." 
Remarks eliciting more of discernment than of the spirit 
of prophecy. D. 1758, set. 71. 

PuiNCIPIiES OF THE PHOTESTANT RELIGION ; a WOrk 

by the Ministers of Boston to meet the insinuations of 
George Keith, Bost. 1690 (1, 3). 

Propositions to Parliament for Gathering In- 
dependent Churches ; an anonymous valuable tract, 
1647 (h), 

Prynne, William, a distinguished English Presby- 
terian lawyer ; educated at Oriel College, Oxford ; re- 
moved to Lincoln's Inn, 1620; lost part of his ears for 
writing Histrio-mastix, and the remainder of them for sa-^ 
tirizing Laud, besides being pilloried, fined, and branded. 
He, in turn, became the chief manager of Laud's trial, 
being then member of the Long Parliament. D. 1669, 
set. 69. Histrio-mastix, Lond. 1633 (1, 3, 4, 9). 

PuNCHARD, George, formerly pastor of the church at 
Plymouth, N.H., now editor of the American Traveller. 
History of Congregationalism, Salem, 1841 ; View of Con- 



424 NOTICES. 

gregationalism, Andover. 1844; — works which deserve 
to be better known and prized. 

Rainolds (Raynolds, Reynolds, et al.), John, King's 
Professor at Oxford, and President of Corpus Christi, a 
reforming and conforming Puritan. Opposed- Bancroft's 
claims to jure divino Episcopacy, and plead the cause of 
the Puritans in Hampton Court Conference {h, d). A 
great scholar and living library. D. 1607, set. 68. 
Overthrow of Stage Plays, Middleburg, 1600 (1). 

Rathband, William, a great opposer of the Inde- 
penden'^s. Published an account of the sentiments of 
the New England Churches, which he did not well under- 
stand, 1644. Thomas Welde stripped him of every fea- 
ther in his Reply (Z>). 

Robinson, John, educated at Cambridge. At first, a 
conforming Puritan and minister at Norwich, and fled 
with his people to Holland in 1608-9, whence a portion 
of them came to Plymouth, and commenced the settle- 
ment of New England. A wise and far-seeing man, and 
a shrewd and sound divine. His positions are always 
strong, and hard to be overthrown. D. 1625, set. 50. 
Several of his treatises are referred to in this Dictionary, 
quoted from Hanbury and Punchard. His complete 
works are now just published by the Congregational 
Union of England and Wales, and the American Doctri- 
nal Tract Society. They are invaluable to those who 
would understand Congregationalism. 

Rogers, John, first martyr in Queen Mary's reign. 
Prebend of St. Paul's ; refused to wear the habits, and 
so disturbed the disguised Papists, who brought him to 
the stake in 1555. Assisted Coverdale in translating 
the Bible into English. 

RuTHERFOED, Samuel, One of the Scots Presbyterian 
Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly, and Profes- 



NOTICE'S. 426 

sor of Divinity in the University of St. Andrews. Author 
of several treatises against Congregationalism, answered 
by Cotton, Hooker, and others. 

Saint's Apology; an anonymous tract, 1645, con- 
taining a succinct representation of a visible church under 
the gospel (Z>). 

Sandys, Sir Edwin, son of the archbishop ; was pre- 
bend of York. Travelled extensively, and published the 
result of his observations entitled Europse Speculum, 
Lond. 1687; from the author's edition, 1599 (4). He 
most evidently leaned to and sustained Congregational 
views. Some of the Robinson Church were of his house- 
hold. Educated at Corpus Christi, Oxford. D. 1629, 
a3t. 68. 

Savoy Confession ; a declaration of the faith and 
order owned and practised in the Congregational churches 
in England, agreed upon by the synod at the Savoy, 
Oct. 12, 1658 ; essentially the same as the Westminster 
Confession, and adopted by Boston Massachusetts Synod, 
1680. Goodwin, Owen, Nye, Bridge, Caryl, and Green- 
hill were the committee who revised it. 

Saybhook Platform ; the Confession of Faith, Heads 
of Agreement, and Articles of Discipline, adopted by the 
Assembly of ministers and messengers of the churches at 
Saybrook, 1708. This Platform embodies the consocia- 
tion plan, and is the generally but not universally re- 
ceived directory of the Connecticut churches. 

Sacheverell, Henry, educated at Oxford. A zeal* 
ous, fiery advocate for non-resistance, and contemner of 
the toleration of Dissenters, for which he was impeached 
by the House of Commons, and found guilty in the reign 
of Queen Anne. 

ScoTTow, Joshua, an eminent merchant of Boston ; 
admitted to the First Church, Boston, 1634. Lived to a 
36* 



426 NOTICES. 

great age, and published Old Men's Tears, &c., Bost. 
1691 (1). Narrative of the Planting of Massachusetts 
Colony, Bost. 1694 (1). 

Sewall, Joseph, D.D. ; H. U. 1707. Ordained col- 
league with Mr. Pemberton, pastor of the Old South 
Church, Boston, 1713. Distinguished for his piety. 
Sermon at Ordination of Messrs. Parker, Hinsdell, and 
Secomb, as missionaries to the Indians, Bost. 1733 (1). 

Shepard, Thomas, educated at Emanuel College, 
Cambridge. Silenced by Laud. He came to New Eng- 
land in 1635, and succeeded Hooker at Cambridge. Es- 
teemed one of the first divines of New England. D. 
1649, set. 43. Matter of the Visible Church (1, 6); 
Church Membership of Children, Camb. 1663 (1, 5); 
Defence of Answer to Nine Positions (with John Allin), 
Lond. 1648 (1, 6). 

Simpson, Sideach, B.D., one of the Independents in 
the Westminster Assembly, and of the Committee for 
digesting the Savoy Confession. Fled from Laud's per- 
secution, and was minister of an Independent Church at 
Rotterdam ; afterward Master of Pembroke Hall, and 
was one of the triers of the ministry during the inter- 
regnum. Even Baillie acknowledges him a discreet, 
learned, and zealous man, well skilled in cases of con- 
science. D. 1658. Fast Sermon (1, 3, 4, 6, Z>) ; Anato- 
mist Anatomized, Lond. 1644 (Z>) ; Lond. 1643 (1). 

Smith, John, pastor of the original Separatist Church 
in England; organized, 1602, from which Robinson's 
Church colonized. He endured great sufi'erings and im- 
prisonment in England, escaped to Holland in 1606, and 
settled at Amsterdam. Here he became a Baptist, and 
immersed himself. Hence he is sometimes called a Se- 
Baptist. He then immersed Helwisse, his associate, and 
other disciples. D. 1610. 



NOTICES. 427 

Sparke, Thomas, D.D., Professor of Divinity, Ox- 
ford. A famous Nonconformist divine, who figured, with 
Travers, at the Conference of Lambeth, and plead the 
cause of the Puritans in the Hampton Court Conference 
id). 

Sparks, Jaked, LL.D. ; H. U. 1815. A distin- 
guished scholar, and late President of Harvard University. 
American Biography (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10). 

Stiles, Ezra, D.D. ; Y. C. 1746. One of the greatest 
scholars the college had ever produced; ordained, New- 
port, R.I., 1755;" President of Yale College, 1778. D. 
1795, set. 68. Convention Sermon, Post. 1761 (1, 2, 4, 
5, 9, 10) ; a most lucid exposition of the several interests 
which operated in the construction of the Cambridge and 
Saybrook Platforms, and of Congregational principles 
and practices generally. It should be republished, and 
in the possession of every friend of religious liberty. 
Election Sermon, New Haven, 1783 (1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10). 

Stillingpleet, Edward, Bishop of Worcester. An 
elegant writer. D. 1699, set. 64. Irenicum, 1659 {h) ; 
Unreasonableness of Separation. 

Stoddard, Solomon; H. U. 1662. Ordained, 1672, 
pastor of church at Northampton, Mass., where he 
preached without interruption fifty-six years. He was 
presbyterially inclined in his views of church govern- 
ment, and in favor of admitting all baptized persons to 
the communion. D. 1729, set. 86. Instituted Churches, 
Lond. 1700 (1, 3) ; Eight of Visible Saints to the Lord's 
Supper, though destitute of a Saving Work in their 
Hearts, Post. 1709 (1). See Gospel Order Revived. 

Strype, John, a learned editor. D. 1737, set. 94. 
Ecclesiastical Memorials ; Annals of Reformation (2, 3, 
8,9). 

Stubbes, Philip; Anatomic of Abuses, Lon. 1583(1). 



428 NOTICES. 

TATiiOR, Nathaniel, minister of the Gospel in Lon- 
don; author of several valuable treatises. Vindication 
of Dissenters, t>. Dr. Sherlock, Lond. 1702 (1), 

Taylor, Timothy, pastor of a church in Dukinfield, 
in Cheshire (with Samuel Eaton). Defence of Sundry 
Positions, Lond. 1645 (1, 3). 

Thacher, Peteh; H. U. 1696. Ordained at Wey- 
mouth ; removed to Boston, 1720, and was installed pas- 
tor of the New North Church ; colleague with Mr. Webb. 
His removal caused great excitement, on the ground that 
it was robbing the church in Weymouth, and derogating 
from the character of the ministry. D. 1739, set. 61. 
Objections to his Ordination, Bost. 1720 (3, 6); Decla- 
ration (with John Webb) in behalf of themselves and the 
New North Church, Bost. 1720 (1, 5). 

ToMPsoN, William, pastor of the church in Brain- 
tree called by Dr. Mather one of the American pillars. 
Ordained, 1639. D. 1666, ^t. 68. Answer to Herle 
(and K. Mather), Lond. 1644 {h). 

TuAVERS, Walter, B.D., Fellow of Trinity College, 
Cambridge.. Ordained at Antwerp, 1578; was one of 
the defenders of the Puritans at the Lambeth Conference ; 
silenced for life for Nonconformity ; went into Ireland, 
and became Provost of Trinity College, Dublin. One of 
the worthiest divines of the age. 

Trumbull, Benjamin, D.D., minister of North 
Haven, Conn. ; Y. C. 1760. D. 1820, ^t. 85. History 
of Connecticut, New Haven, 1818, a work of great value 
(1, 7, 8, 9, 10). 

Turner, Charles ; an esteemed minister of Dux- 
bury ; H. U. 1752. Ordained, 1755; dismissed, 1775. 
Afterwards settled at Turner, Me. D. 1818, set. 81. 
Plymouth Anniversary Sermon, Bost. 1778 (1, 5). 

Udall, John, minister of Kingston-upon-Thames. 



NOTICES. 429 

Silenced for Nonconformity ; sentenced to die for writing 
the Mar-Prelate Pamphlets, which he solemnl}^ denied, 
and died of broken heart in Marshalsea Prison, 1592. 
The witnesses in his favor were denied a hearing in court, 
"because they were against the queen's majesty." De- 
monstration of Discipline (probably Declaration of Disci- 
pline), 1574 (5). 

Upham, Chakles W. ; H. U. 1821. For several 
years minister in Salem, more recently has figured in 
political life. Is now mayor of Salem. Dedication Ser- 
mon, Salem, 1826 (1, 3, 4); Second Century Sermon, 
Salem, 1829 (1, 3, 4). 

Upham, Thomas C, Professor in Bowdoin College,. 
Me. Ratio Disciplinse, a work of great research, and 
generally correct, Portland, 1844. 

Vaxe, Sir Henry, the younger. Governor of Massa- 
chusetts, 1636. Returned to England, was active for 
Cromwell, and hanged and quartered for high treason ; 
with Hugh Peters, after the Restoration, 1662, aet. 50. 
Imbibed many errors, but had clear views of ecclesiastical 
liberty. 

Ware, Henry, Jun., D.D. ; H. U. 1812. Pastor of 
church in Boston, and afterward Professor of Sacred 
Rhetoric in Harvard University. History of Old North 
and New Brick Churches, Boston, Bost. 1821 (1, 3). 

Watts, Isaac, D.D., the poet, philosopher, and divine. 
Assistant to Dr. Isaac Chauncy, in London, 1698, and 
succeeded him in 1701-2. Mr. Price was chosen his 
assistant in 1703. Had feeble health till his death, 1748, 
^t. 74. Works in 7 vols. (2, 3, 7, 9, 10); Terms of 
Christian Communion ; Foundation of a Christian Church, 
in Works. 

Webb, John, first pastor of New North Church, Bos- 
ton; H. U. 1708; ordained, 1714; survived one col- 



430 NOTICES. 

league (Mr. Tbacher), and enjoyed the assistance of 
another (Dr. Eliot) eight years, who pronounced him 
one of the best of Christians and of ministers. Sermon 
at the Ordination of a Deacon, Bost. 1731 (1, 6). — See 
Thacher, Petee. 

Welde, Thomas, first pastor of the church in Rox- 
bury ; refused to submit to the ceremonies, and came to 
New England, 1632; was sent to England with Hugh 
Peters, 1641, and returned to his former parish, Dur- 
ham; from w^hich, Eliot says, he w^as ejected, 1662; 
though Blake says that he died 1660. A very j udicious 
minister. Answer to Rathband, Lond. 1644 {h). 

Wells, Noah, D.D., minister of Stamford, Conn. ; 
Y. C. 1741 ; ordained, 1746. D. 1776. A theologian 
of great renown ; author of several valuable treatises 
against the Episcopate, also of other works. 

West, SA:MrEL, a famous Armenian divine ; H. U. 
1754 ; ordained at Dartmouth about 1764. D. 1807, aet. 
77. Plymouth Anniversary Sermon, Bost. 1778 (1, 5), 

White, Johx. H. U. 1698. Pastor First Church 
in Gloucester. D. 1760. Lamentations (in Wise's Vin- 
dication), Bost. 1772. 

Whitgift, John, Archbishop of Canterbury ; a ta- 
lented but severe governor of the church, pressing confor- 
mity with rigor. In early life he was against the habits, 
and run the usual race of the relapsed from reforms. 
D. 1603, set. 73. Controversy with Cartwright (Z>, d), 

WiCKLiFFE, John, D.D., educated at Merton College ; 
called the Evangelical Doctor ; Professor of Divinity, 
Oxford, and had the highest reputation in the university; 
a great opposer of the mendicants. He sustained Ed- 
ward III. in his refusal to pay tribute to the Pope, and 
openly appealed to the vv^ord of God as the rule of faith 
and practice, and met the thunders of the Vatican for his 



NOTICES. 431 

presumption ; yet lie died in his bed, 1384, aet. about 60. 
He maintained the great, leading principles of Congrega- 
tionalism with great success in that dark age, and was 
the grand means of planting principles of religious free- 
dom in England. 

Williams, Rogek, educated at Oxford, was a minis- 
ter of the Church of England ; became a Separatist, and 
came to New England, 1631 ; became pastor of the church 
in Salem ; sentence of banishment was denounced against 
him, and he fled to Providence, where he afterwards be- 
came a Baptist, and subsequently a Seeker; renouncing 
his immersion because it had not been performed by one 
who had himself been immersed in regular succession. 
He was certainly in advance of his brethren on this side 
the water on some points of religious liberty, though the 
commonplace representations of his case are as much at 
variance with his own version of the matter as with that 
of his opponents. D. 1683, set. 84. (See art. Tolesa- 
TioN, in Dictionary.) Bloody Tenet (2, 3, 5, 6). Answer 
to Cotton's Letter, Lond. 1648 (1). Hireling Ministry 
none of Christ's, Lond. 1652 (1). 

WiLLARD, Samuel, Vice-President of Harvard Uni- 
versity ; minister of Groton, and Old South Church, 
Boston; H. U. 1659; a devoted Christian and sound 
divine. D. 1707, set. 68. Election Sermon, Bost. 1694 (1); 
Discourse concerning Laying the Hand on the Bible in 
Swearing, Lond. 1689 (1, 6). 

WiNSLOW, Edwae-d, Governor of Plymouth Colony ; 
united with liobinson's Church in Leyden. He was a 
very laborious and serviceable magistrate, and a daring 
adventurer. D. 1655, set. 61. Good News from New 
England (a). 

WiNTHROP, John, many years Governor of Massachu- 
setts Colony; expended a fine estate and endured great 



482 NOTICES. 

privations for the benefit of the colony; was for mild 
and tolerant measures in religion. D. 1649, aet. 60. 
Journal, Bost. 1825, in the town-libraries of Massachu- 
setts (9, 10). 

Wise, John, minister of Ipswich; H. U. 1673 ; was 
zealously attached to civil and religious liberty ; was im- 
prisoned by Andros for remonstrating against the taxes. 
D. 1725, set. 73. A learned scholar and an eloquent 
orator. Quarrel of the Churches Espoused, and Vindi- 
cation of the Liberties of the New England Churches. 
Bost. 1772 (1, 2, 4, 7). 

WiSNER, B. B., D.D.; Union College, 1813 ; ordained 
pastor of Old South Church, Boston, 1821 ; afterward 
Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions. D. 1835, set. 40. History of Old 
South Church, Boston, Bost. 1830 (1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). 

WiTHEKS, John. I can learn nothing of this author, 
save his book, which ought to render his name immortal. 
History of Besistance in the Church of England, Lond. 
1710 (1). 

When, Matthew, Chaplain to Charles I. and Bishop 
of Hereford and Norwich. D. 1667, set. 81. Articles of 
Visitation {d). 

Young, Alexander, D.D., pastor of New South 
Church, Boston; H. U, 1820; ordained, 1825. Chroni- 
cles of the Pilgrims (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9) ; a work of merit 
and research. Chronicles of Massachusetts (1); Dudlean 
Lecture, Bost. 1846 (1,2), in which he breaks up the fal- 
low ground of Episcopacy. 



THE END. 



f2.ic-)"f 



